Within the child welfare system and if nothing changes; nearly 14 million confirmed cases of abuse and neglect will be reported;
more than 22,500 children will die of abuse and neglect;
nine million children will be placed in foster care;
more than 300,000 children will age out of foster care without adequate supports to uccessfully transition to adulthood.
Of those 300,000 transitioning youth, 75,000 will experience homelessness and 54,000 will become involved in the criminal justice system. 1
It cost approximately $22,650 a year for every young adult incarcerated.
With an average prison sentence of about four-and-a-half years, it will cost our state governments about $102,000 to rehabilitate our foster youth. Think about it, $102,000 – we could have made a positive impact on our foster youth for a lot less. When we advocate and support change for some of our most vulnerable children, the cost is a lot less as opposed to the cost they have to pay without our support.
Here in the United States, more than 20,000 youth in foster care turn 18 and leave the system, often with little or no financial and family support. In California, that number is 4,000. What our children need is lifelong connections with caring adults, who can help them transition to the workforce or higher education. Here’s something to ponder: Were any of us prepared for adulthood at 18 without the support of family and the community? Allow me to briefly touch on something that I’ve found disturbing within the current welfare system . . .
Social Worker Caseloads
From my experience working in the foster care and mental health system; one fact that I know is true , is that the caseload for Social Workers across the board is at a dangerous high level. And what I mean by dangerous; is that by having a high caseload, we are putting Our Children in jeopardy.
Our front-line social workers are unable to focus on children that have higher needs because they have to manage 8 to 10 other cases. And I’ve even seen some as high as thirteen children on their caseload. So what do we do about this? I’m only one person; one voice. But there must be a clear plan of action on how to train more social workers with what funding is given. If we are not providing our social workers with adequate support and resources; then we are not only failing them; but Our Children as well.
Months ago, a social worker presented me with the following question: "David, I’m not sure how to ask you this and I hope that you don’t take it the wrong way." I looked at her and replied; "there’s not a question that I haven’t been asked; so please, by all means, ask away. "Since you are a former foster child and African American, how do we as social workers help to build self-esteem in our foster children?" I looked at her and replied; "That is a great question. But, I can not give you the answer you seek; at least not now. What I mean is that a question such as this, will take some thought. Please let me think about it over the weekend and I’ll give you my answer on Monday." I went home that night; got my pen and pad and began to write. And I pondered on that question for hours. How do we build self-esteem in foster children when they come to us with little or no self-esteem at all. How do we do it? Not only did I have an answer for her; but I wrote a lesson plan, went to Sacramento and presented it at a Social Worker Conference.
Allow me to present a portion of it to you.
Building self self-esteem
What is self self-esteem:
How a person feels about herself or himself; pride in oneself. Self-esteem is linked to family traditions, language, social customs, economic background, and other aspects of one's cultural environment.
Why do we need self self-esteem:
Without self-esteem we have an inability to feel powerful or in control. We are more vulnerable to depression and we have a tendency to see ourselves as less talented and less able.
We acquire self self-esteem
1. By accomplishing things that have meaning to us.
2. Through small and large successes that have significance to us and give our life meaning and value.
3. When we do something that has meaning to us, we feel confident and good about ourselves.
There are five components that help Our Children to develop self self-esteem:
Safety
Identity and belonging
Competence and purpose
Individual talents
Parental self-esteem
Safety
As adults, we need to protect Our Children from those that would want to do them harm; not only physically, but psychologically as well. We must protect them from ridicule and support their learning with positive feedback. We can use one-liners such as "well done," and "that’s a great choice." Those are positive words to let children feel good about who they are.
Identity
The three basic aspects that make up Our Children’s identity are:
A child’s name
Gender
Race
Children learn that these characteristics put them in a certain group that defines a particular family, sex, and cultural group. Parents can teach their children what is expected of them and how these groups are viewed by others. Our first indicator of who we are and how we feel about ourselves stems from what our parents tell us and how we are treated by them. How do they do this?
Giving their children clear, positive messages
Respecting their right to say what they think and feel
This will give children a detailed image of what their unique self is. If children have little information mirrored back to them, they will have difficulty forming an accurate picture of who they are. If the information and feelings children receive are negative, they will incorporate these negative images into their self-image. Older children will require positive, specific information about themselves in order to begin answering their own questions about their identity:
What is it about me that looks good?
What are my talents at school, on the playground, with people, at church or in the community?
How could these strengths translate into goals for myself at school, in creative outlets, or in the world
Cultural Identity
We need to help our children begin to answer the question: "Who am I?" Cultural heritage is an integral part of self-identity. Learning about cultural values and the ability to convey them to the next generation is an adult responsibility common to all ethnic groups.
Preparation for adulthood is itself determined by ethnicity. Policies and programs aimed at helping adolescents in foster care to prepare for independence must first recognize cultural differences and their importance to these children. The valuing of culture must be expressed systematically. This approach is essential, given the high proportion of children of color in out-of-home care.
The ethnic differences of minority teenagers are frequently perceived as emotional disturbances; legitimate psychological difficulties are more likely to be met with restriction or even entrance into the criminal justice system rather than treatment; educational and career goals are often scaled down; cultural values and related goals are frequently misunderstood and maligned; and the critical need of every minority adolescent to discern and cope with the effect of racism is largely overlooked.
As a result, minority foster adolescents are often less prepared to lead productive lives than their Caucasian counter parts and remain at greater risk of dependence on government system throughout their lives.
While all caregivers, regardless of heritage, need to be ethnically competent in their work with children, misunderstandings related to cultural differences are most likely to take place when the ethnic backgrounds of young people differ from those of the adults caring for them. Ethnic competence can help to overcome those differences.
The components that systematically addresses culture and ethnicity are:
Placing adolescents in foster families whose ethnicity is the same as that of the young person
Mobilizing resources of the foster families through training and other supports
Hiring and training social workers from among the ethnic groups served
Developing supports for youths in the community
Ensuring that all agency staff members have opportunities to become ethnically competent; that is, aware of their own culture and its effect on viewing others; open to understanding other cultures; and able to use cultural resources effectively.
African-American foster parents have generally had experience in preparing their own children to deal with the unfortunate realities of racism and can provide the same support to foster children. Skills in managing and overcoming the effects of oppression are important for adolescents who are preparing for adulthood. African-American foster parents can be a valuable source of knowledge to agencies, and they are in a key position to advocate for services needed by youths approaching discharge from care in order to ensure that these services are provided in culturally sensitive ways.
Building racial pride
In order for children to confront racism, they need to feel good about who they are. We do this by:
providing strong, positive role models - both peers and adults--for children to feel proud of their African-American, Asian-American, Latin-American, or Native-American heritage.
Sometimes that means making some big changes in lifestyle. For example, consider moving from a white neighborhood to a mixed-racial neighborhood. If you live in a rural or semirural area with few people of color, consider relocating to a more urban area the next time a job change is in the offering. Investigate schools in your area and locate one that has quality educational standards and is racially and culturally diverse among its student body and its staff. If you're religious, attend religious services that have an openness to other races and cultures. Families can make a conscious effort to bring into their homes print and audiovisual materials, posters and clothing to showcase a positive racial and cultural identity for their children.
Competence
To become functioning members in any culture/social group, children learn basic physical skills such as; feeding, bathing, toileting, and social skills. By finding little jobs they can do, we encourage Our Children’s ability and reward them with positive feedback. As children master a positive understanding of their racial and cultural identity, they will develop a sense of social competence.
With this competence, they will feel confident in who they are and how they can participate in different groups. We also need to give them the skills to protect themselves against racism. Tell them that their skin is beautiful. Tell them that their hair is unique from any others hair. If another child says, "I can't play with you because you're Black," Our Children will have a response ready: "My skin is beautiful," or "I'm perfect just the way I am." Children may be hurt or angry by certain remarks, but they will be ready to handle discriminatory comments if we prepare them for it.
Children Talents
All of Our Children will display some form of talent that will help them to relate to their surroundings. As parents, teachers, and social workers, we can lookout for these individual gifts and encourage them as they may be indications for guiding them through school and job options in the years to come. Most children and teenagers know their gifts and talents. Our job is to ask them what they'll do with those gifts.
To help children discover their purpose and to construct a plan for their life, teach them to ask themselves these four questions:
What do I want for myself?
What do I want for my family?
What do I want for my people?
What do I want for the world?
Parental self self-estee esteem
When we help to build Our Children’s self-esteem, as parents, we find joy in their accomplishments. The confidence in parents and social workers increase by knowing that they know what to do to nurture their children and get results.
Foster Childr Children need to be able to say:
I have a right to be
I have a right to exist
I have a right to feel all my feelings
I have a right to think my own thoughts
I have a right to say what I think and to know that I count
Become an advocate
Look for a preschool where your children will find other playmates of color. Then become active in the parent group and work to bring in dolls, books, and cultural activities that celebrate cultural diversity in general, and your child's own heritage in particular. Introduce the teacher to anti-bias curriculum materials. Deal directly and firmly with incidents of overt or covert racism.
Preparation for Emancipation
I believe that in preparing Our Children for emancipation, we need to also prepare them not only for employment, colleges, team sports, but also prepare them for what they will face as another race. And in doing so, we need to look at ways in which we as parents, social workers, and as a community to help Our Children achieve their dreams by building positive self-esteem.
Independent Living Skills
Independent Living classes should be a requirement for all foster youth; not only for those emancipating.
Continue paying foster youth a salary to attend Independent Living classes. The salary is the motivation for the youth to attend. It’s almost a form of getting paid to learn.
Invite former foster youth to attend the classes to talk about skills they learned from
Independent Living classes and how it aided them through emancipation.
Independent Living classes should be broken up by age groups. In other words, 20 year olds should not be in the same class as someone that is 15.
Foster youth that are old enough; invite someone from the military to speak with them about the benefits they could get by joining. This was one of the best things that happened to me. I did not know anything about ILS or what I was going to do after high school. I personally walked into a recruiter’s office and explained my situation to them and we went from there.
Assign special projects where the youth can go out into the world to learn how to purchase items, budget their money, and also how to return an item to a store without confrontation with the sales associate.
Social Workers and agencies should make sure that every foster parent have knowledge of ILS and see to it that their child attend some of the classes. Foster parents should also be willing to teach their youth some skills prior to leaving their custody.
Independent Living Skills Workshops should be designed for foster parents and youth to attend and practice various communication skills as it relates to self-esteem, staying out of gangs, job interview preparations (dressing for the part), and helping teen parents to prepare for living on their own with their child.
Sources:
1 Casey Family Programs
National Center on Child Abuse Prevention Research: Prevent Child Abuse America; Current Trends in
Child Abuse Reporting and Fatalities
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse & Neglect Information. Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse & Neglect
© Dahveed 2007
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized Reproduction and Distribution Strictly Prohibited.
