Violence in foster care

p Running Head : Foster Care Issues

Foster Care and Issues of Violence

and /or Abuses against Children

[Name of Student]

[Name of Teacher or Subject] Introduction : Current trends in foster care and incidence of violence and child abuse

The occurrence of child abuse in the U .S . is a recurring issue that is expected to stay with us for a long time . Despite the study and expose of the tri-media and increased intervention at the federal and state level , there seems to be no foolproof solution to the incidence of

child abuse . In fact , based on the latest report from the US Department of Health and Human Services ' website , it stated

Based on a rate of 48 .3 per 1 ,000 children , an estimated 3 .6 million children received an investigation by CPS agencies during FFY 2005 (Children 's Maltreatment Report , 2005

The report further stated that

Of the children who received an investigation , approximately one-quarter were determined to have been abused or neglected . Based on a victim rate of 12 .1 per 1 ,000 children , an estimated 899 ,000 children were found to be victims in the 50 states , the District of Columbia , and Puerto Rico (Children 's Maltreatment Report , 2005

It is disturbing to note that even as a first world civilized country like the United States , problems of child abuse could be so prevalent More disturbing than that though - is the fact that federal and state response was to take children away from their abusive parent or caregiver and thrown into the system of foster care - which is admittedly a not-so-perfect-system on its own . Unfortunately , not even the US Department of Health and Human Services can provide enough statistical data to merit a full case study for this issue of foster care abuse . What they do have in the 2005 Children 's Maltreatment Report is a statement vaguely identifying cases of maltreatment or abuse by a non-parent . To quote from the report

Nearly 84 percent (83 .4 ) of victims were abused by a parent acting alone or with another person . Approximately , forty percent (40 .4 ) of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone another 18 .3 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone and 17 .3 percent were abused by both parents . Victims abused by nonparental perpetrators accounted for 10 .7 percent

The report has defined a non parent or a non-parental perpetrator as one who is not the birth parent (s ) of the child and may include a daycare staff , foster care parent , legal guardian or residential facility staff

Although the percentage of 10 .7 percent seems small , when multiplied by the 899 ,000 confirmed incidence of abuse , the statistics equal to 96 ,193 incidents of non-parental ' abuse . What 's worse is this maybe merely the tips of the iceberg as majority of the incidences usually occur unreported or unproven for lack of witness corroboration or testimony from the victim themselves

Causes of rise of children placed in foster care

The period of 1990...