Foster Care Research Paper

There are many children without families who can provide them with a safe environment in the United States who end up in foster care. Sometimes the system does its job and places a child with a great family until they are reunited with their parents, or adopted if reunification is not possible. It ends up that way a lot of the time, but there are numerous situations where that is not the case. An experience from a former foster care kid, Brittany Hines Clark, “During my time in that home, I was physically and sexually manipulated. So much went on there, but only my outbursts were reported to my social worker. I was even put in the home of a different member of that family so that the foster parent would continue getting paid” (Clark). It’s …show more content…
A child may be in the foster care system because of a parent's struggle with addiction, unsafe living conditions, and many other reasons. According to the research, foster care workers need to be compensated for their hard work, and doing so, will improve many areas of struggle. Children who are in the foster care system don’t choose to be there. It’s usually when they desperately need to get out of a dangerous situation, and this is one of the only ways to do that. They need to be advocated for and taken care of, which is why this system is in place. The foster care system is not only made up of the kids, the system needs people to place the children in safe homes and make sure the children are taken care of. Child welfare workers are the ones who do that. These workers have essential jobs and lots of responsibilities. Child welfare workers in the foster care system need to be compensated and given more resources for their demanding work, as currently this system is not adequately meeting the needs of the children and …show more content…
They have a large amount of responsibility for this. According to the University Of Massachusetts Global, “Social workers in the child welfare system are primarily responsible for protecting children and adolescents who are at risk for neglect or abuse. Often this involves working with families that are struggling with systemic challenges like poverty, racism, addiction, homelessness, and generational cycles of trauma” (Child Welfare Social Worker). Not only families, but children in the foster care system have to deal with a lot, and since they are entrusted to these child welfare workers, the workers have a lot of responsibility to deal with. Because of this, the workers must be on top of their work since it directly impacts the families and children’s futures. The main reason why the United States has not increased pay for child welfare workers is because it’s expensive. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The national estimated mean annual wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers is $56,680” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). This pay is meager considering how much of a toll this takes on the

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