Who are social workers? Can they help your child or family?

 

The placement of foster children in long-term homes and maintaining their safety and well-being while in the foster care system are both crucial functions of the foster care social worker. Social workers in foster care also assist in maintaining intact families or reuniting children with their parents or carers. Children have nearly invariably gone through terrible experiences by the time they enter foster care. Children most frequently enter foster care as a result of:

• Neglect

• Usage of drugs by a parent

• Parent or caregiver's inability to care for a child

• Violent abuse

Numerous foster children have also endured sexual assault, abandonment, or homelessness.

A kid's psychological and physical health can be significantly impacted by these traumas, which are frequently cumulative. They may impair a child's capacity for:

• Accomplish developmental milestones

• Succeed in school

• Create wholesome social networks

Foster care can provide children with some protection from abuse and neglect, but it can't heal their emotional and psychological wounds right away. The impact of foster care on child development has only been the subject of a few studies. According to research, a child's early experiences affect their subsequent growth and functional capacity. Additionally, numerous studies have indicated that severely neglected children, as can happen to children who are neglected while they are very young, can have long-term functional and developmental repercussions.

According to a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, foster care may improve a child's chances of overcoming functional and developmental deficits. Compared to children who suffered deprivation but were not placed in foster care, just 23% of those with histories of extreme early deprivation who were placed in foster care at 12 showed adaptive functioning, according to the study's findings. This is known as adaptive functioning when a youngster develops judgement, social skills, and maturity at an age-appropriate level.

When traumatised children are placed in foster care, their lives are severely disrupted. Foster care placement, for instance, can occasionally cause siblings to be split up, send kids to different schools, or take them away from their friends. Children's relationships with their former carers are also strained due to foster care. While this may offer children much-needed relief, particularly in cases of abuse, a child will inevitably view being taken from their family as a painful experience. The findings of several studies that demonstrate foster children have higher rates of behavioural and mental health issues than kids in the general community are most likely explained by this, along with earlier mistreatment. Foster children are particularly susceptible to problems with social-emotional functioning, or the capacity to express and manage emotions, because of their complicated pasts.

Social workers who work with foster children contribute to ensuring their welfare. This entails:

• Evaluating and preparing foster parents

• Matching kids with foster homes or relatives that can take care of them and meet their needs

• A review of current foster care placements

• Fostering foster children and their foster parents

• Pursuing adoption or family reunification as long-term options for children

Serving as a bridge between foster parents, social services organisations, and families is another aspect of a social worker's job in family fostering. Foster care social workers might be called upon, for instance, when social services organisations need to conduct investigations or remove kids from their families for their protection.

Working with a child's primary carers to construct a reunification plan is a common step in developing and implementing permanent plans. Foster care social workers talk with the child's biological parents about the reasons for the child's removal and come up with fostering solutions to the problems that caused the removal. They establish objectives to aid natural carers in getting to the point where they can:

• Protect their kids from abuse and neglect.

• Take care of their kids' emotional, nutritional, and medical needs.

• Show that they are dedicated to developing their parenting abilities.