This new radio report from National Public Radio (NPR) challenges some of the misconceptions about fostering, including that people foster for the money or that foster parents “must be saints to take in other people’s children”. Two main speakers, a foster parent for over 15 years to more than 40 children, and a Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law share their insight and experiences about fostering in the US context.
The two speakers highlight through personal anecdotes the many positive impacts foster parents and families can leave on children, including by supporting family reunification and adoption. Both, however, also express their concerns that the U.S. foster care system is overburdened and in need of much improvement, especially in relation to the need to involve children better in the decisions around their care arrangements. System overcrowding is another major concern with about half a million children in the country’s foster care system, 80% of them as a result of neglect which is closely associated with poverty. Moreover, children are moved around too often without receiving adequate support. Case workers and social service workers are not necessarily well-equipped and trained to handle many of the crisis situations foster children face. According to the speakers, foster care done right, with adequate social support for foster families, can improve the lives of foster children and their relationship with their biological parents. To read the full transcript, or listen to the audio, please visit: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/21/174958972/the-foster-care-system-what-parents-wish-we-knew or click on the document above.