In America, foster care is widely known as a system in which minors are placed in group homes. Most of these minors are placed in foster care due to a variety of reasons, the most common is neglect and abuse. Upon removing children from dangerous environments, the system provides a safe haven, up until the child’s problems are resolved. Unfortunately, foster care may seem as it is serving its purpose to improve children’s lives, but it does the complete opposite because the system is flawed. Youth who age out of foster care have poor outcomes because the foster care system fails to teach them proper life lessons.
The main problem as to why youth are unsuccessful after leaving foster care is because of the system’s lack of responsibility. The system implements policies onto children that does not fulfill its goal. When the policies tend to fail, it has a huge impact on the children. For instance, Krebs & Pitcoff examined that “policies and practices served short term goals that were not suitable for managing the lives of tens of thousands of teens in the system” (Krebs & Pitcoff 81). This proves how the system neglects to think about the consequences when implementing their policies, and the negative impact it could have on youth. Since the policies were not thoroughly revised, it has proven to not be beneficial for the children in foster care. Another example of their irresponsibility was when cases began to pile up, the system believed by enacting another policy, it would solve its problems. However, the policy once again failed, and what “was meant to stem child fatalities, they actually rose”( Beam 26). Since the system did not scrutinize their plan, as a result children fatalities were increasing, which could have been easily preventable with a better alternative. This also shows the seriousness and the great impact a policy could have on a children’s life, and displays the flaws the system has; making it evident that the system does not think about the children in foster care. Around the same time that cases were piling, a young girl was killed by her father. Her death could have been preventable, since “ACS had known about this case and failed to intervene”( Beam 26). This shows irresponsibility within the system because they brushed the the case off, and are now responsible for a little girl’s death. Since they failed to intervene, it is evident that they did not care about endangered children, and had no intention on helping them. In conclusion, because the system has many flaws, it is responsible for the obstacles youth will have to face as adults.
Additionally, youth in foster careface serious academic problems because the system fails to make sure they get a proper education. For instance, many “imagined futures for themselves that involved education, they were angry and scared no one was making sure they were getting a decent education”( Krebs & Pitcoff 80). Foster care youth had envisioned futures for themselves, but since...
