Instability, Mental Health, and Children in Foster Care
Children in foster care continue to face a mental health crisis, for a variety of reasons. Now, a new study indicates that instability with a home placement only adds to this mental health issue.
When children in foster care are suddenly removed from their homes, their families, their friends, schools, and all they know, and then placed into an environment that is, most often, strange and unfamiliar to them, and told that this new environment is to be their home for an unforeseen amount of time is a most traumatic experience. Couple this with the emotional, mental, and physical scars that foster children usually struggle with, and it is apparent that these children face challenges unlike any other group of children.
The more often a child in foster care moves, from one home to another, the greater the concern becomes. Children who undergo numerous displacements often erect emotional walls to protect themselves and keep others out, hoping to minimize the anxiety they’re experiencing. In attempting to help relieve their pain, the child may lie to their foster family as they try to create emotional distance and at the same time have a sense of personal control.
New research from the United Kingdom indicates that for those children in foster care who experience multiple displacements, moving from one foster home to another, are at twice the risk of experiencing mental health issues. This study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that “frequent moves are likely contributing to this high level of need, leaving lasting scars on children’s well-being.” The study also indicated that the problem is only made worse by the lack of stable housing and placement for children in foster care, due to lack of homes.
Lead author Cody Varnish, from Bath’s Department of Psychology, said, “These moves are often unexpected and can disrupt children’s relationships, education, and routines, ultimately undermining their sense of safety and belonging. Providing children with stable homes is a critical step toward improving outcomes for care-experienced children and young people.”
Any subsequent disruptions can be so severe, the child may feel as if their entire world is falling apart. And for them, it is because everything they know to be true in their world is turned upside down. The home they lived in is different and the family they made memories with is no longer there to care for them. And, for far too many children in foster care, the school they attended, their teachers, and their friends have all been replaced. These seismic shifts, in reality, leave children struggling to survive as they adjust to a new home and family.
For a child in foster care, frequent moves increase the likelihood the child will be at greater risk for future mental health crises. The longer a child stays within the same foster family home, there’s increased opportunity for emotional bonding creating a sense of stability, which benefits social behavior, academic performance, interactions within the community, as well as interactions within the foster home.
Finally, there are those times when mental health illness and mental health issues go undiagnosed and unrecognized. This might simply be due to the fact that, on the surface, the child appears to be fine and in good mental health. Mental health issues can still exist, even for those children who often smile, laugh considerably, performs well in sports and other extracurricular activities, overachieves academically, and appears to be well-adjusted, so to speak. Yet, these might be the children who suffer the most from mental health.
Many of the mental health issues foster children face may never be addressed. Further, the psychological and emotional challenges they face may worsen and increase, rather than improve and decrease. That’s because in many cases, these children will not receive adequate mental health or developmental services, due to a lack of government funding and lack of resources, as well as understaffed and overworked caseworkers.
As foster parents, carers, and advocates, we need to recognize the signs of mental health, and take the steps the children need in order to treat these children, help them heal, and bring families the support they so desperately need in this time of confusion. If we do not, then we risk not only losing this generation, but their children and future generations, as well.
Dr. John DeGarmo is an international expert in parenting and foster care and is a TEDx Talk presenter. Dr. John is the founder and director of The Foster Care Institute. He and his wife have had over 60 children come through their home as foster parents. He is an international consultant to schools, legal firms, and foster care agencies, as well as an empowerment and transformational speaker and trainer for schools, child welfare, businesses, and non profit organizations. He is the author of several foster care books, including The Foster Care Survival Guide: The Essential Guide for Todays Foster Parents and writes for several publications. Dr. John has appeared on CNN HLN, Good Morning, America, and NBC, FOX, CBS, and PBS stations across the nation. He and his wife have received many awards, including the Good Morning America Ultimate Hero Award. He can be contacted at drjohndegarmo@gmail, through his Facebook page, Dr. John DeGarmo, or at The Foster Care Institute.
