The Negative Effect of the Foster Care System
on Adolescents Path and Success to College.
Lizbeth Cano; Krissie Ruiz
METHOD:
This research is a literature review on foster care children and their transition to adulthood, specifically college. The community that we chose to research is the United States of America from 1990-2010 to see the result of children going to college and the significant factors that come to play in their lives.
RESULTS:
We had three peer reviewed journals on foster care children. According to Lockwood , Friedman, and Christian (2015), foster carechildren who are not placed in permanent homes are at higher risk of incarceration, income insecurity, unemployment, and educational deficits. Kirk, Lewis, Nilsen, and Colvin (2013), that youth in the foster care system report lower educational aspirations and expectation. Bass (2004) examines challenges faced by the child welfare system, including low funding and low morale.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our research concludes “Only 43% of the foster care youth aspired to obtain a 4-year college degree compared to the 67% of non-foster care youth” (Kirk, Lewis, Nilsen, & Colvin, 2013). Although some may argue that the foster care system is an “easy fix” for parents who do not want to care for their children, research shows that 37% of the parents whose are children in the foster care system do not willingly surrender their children. Others may argue that once they age out of the foster care system, these individuals must face similar consequences as other adults. However, 30% to 80% of these individuals are ill-prepared to face the world.
DISCUSSION:
Since the research is limited to the United States, similar statistics for foster care systems in other countries are not available. Future research needs to include international statistics for the transitioning foster children’s scope of knowledge and/or aspirations of college. Additional research can also focus on the financial branch or medical field.
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