Culminating Task

Essay: Foster Care

Jenni Szusz
Why should we care about foster care? Whats the big deal? The
big deal is that there are many children in desperate need of help and
we could be doing so much more to make an impact. We dont seem to
understand the need in its depth and details. If we really knew what
these kids were like and what their lives looked like, I am fully
convinced that we would frantically put ourselves into action.
Foster children are simply children; they are no different from
non-foster children. Both are conceived, nurtured, and birthed the
same way. Each are capable of playing outside, going to school, eating,
laughing everything. The only difference is that foster children are
not wanted, in a matter of words. In 2011, a census was taken,
concluding that there were 47,885 children living in foster care in
Canada. Most of these children, 29,590 or 62% to be exact, were aged
fourteen and under. These children did not choose their title. Foster
children become foster children through someone(s) of authority over
them, not their own doing. Some are given up right at birth because
the mothers know they cannot raise them on their own. Others come
into foster care for the same reason, except that the mothers think
they can raise them healthily when they really cant. This is when the
children are brutally taken from the mothers. In some occasions, a
childs foster parents will legally adopt them. It can sometimes take a
long time or it can happen very quickly for either foster parents or just
regular adoptive parents to actually get custody of the child. In some
cases, the biological mother disappears without signing any papers so
the process is then prolonged by months. CAS needs to get permission
from the mother for her child to be put up for adoption and if they
cant, they need to be able to prove that they have tried everything
possible to find her. This means calling everyone who may know her,
going to any place she may have been; anything and everything that
will maybe give leads as to where she could be.
You may have heard of CAS before. It stands for (Ontario
Association of) Childrens Aid Societies. This is where fostering in
Ontario comes from, its the system all foster work and people involved
go through to make things happen. OACAS stands for forty-four
Childrens Aid Societies and four Aboriginal organizations. Foster
children are listed there, foster parents are listed there, foster drivers
are listed there everything having to do with foster care goes through
CAS. Foster drivers are people that work for CAS, usually retirees. Their
job is to drive foster children anywhere they have to go. These children
are usually random sometimes drivers have regulars, but not often

and these places could be anywhere. It may be to and from school

every day, to a court session, to their future adoptive homes for a visit,
to their original homes for a visit anywhere.
Although CAS is really great in many ways, there are some things
about it that could use some attention. Some of the workers dont
seem to enjoy their job at all and it sometimes shows. They dont seem
to really care about the children they are dealing with, but instead
theyre just working their jobs because they need to make money.
Obviously this isnt ideal as these children have had it rough enough
and could just use love and care from somebody. Getting into a car to
be driven by a stranger to court, only to find out that you are going to
be moved to a different home and school once again, is hard on its
own. That little glimpse of happiness and love from that stranger for
twenty minutes could actually mean more to a child than one might
think. Little things like rides should be valued and have work put into
them as well, but CASs social workers dont always think that highly of
those things. Other small things could stand to be altered such as the
system of the drivers giving rides. It is a lot easier to get into a car with
someone you know, like and trust. Ideally, foster children would be
driven by the same one or two people rather than a different driver
every time. It makes the ride lighter in atmosphere, faster, and more
comfortable. It also helps when kids have health issues, as many of
them do, for the drivers to be aware of that and be prepared to know
how to deal with an issue if one were to arise during the drive.
The state of health for the majority of foster children is the same
and it is not good. Over 90% of them have medical needs including
physical issues such as skin conditions and/or mental diseases. Also,
theyre medical history is often not documented which means that any
vaccines, medications, or treatments are unknown. This can be
dangerous if they are needing medical attention, can finally get it, and
need immunizations or medications because if they have had some in
the past, new ones may not mix well with others or it may be too
much. Also, allergies could be apparent but will go without knowing
which, of course, is never a good thing. Allergies to certain foods,
medicines, or natural things such as pollen could be relevant but
unknown to important people that are there to help these children.
According to the collected data in 2011, 17,410 Canadian
households had at least one foster child aged newborn to fourteen.
57% of those households were run by a married couple, common-law
couples ran about 12%, and 14% were run by single parents. 8590
were four years of age and younger, 11,455 were teenagers from the
ages of fifteen to nineteen. This goes to show that foster children are of
all ages, and that although 17,410 may seem like more than enough

foster homes, it still is not ideal. Some of the homes only have one
parent and even if the children are in good, loving and caring homes, it
is not the same as being in your good, loving and caring home with
your own two parents that love you unconditionally.
Aboriginals make up 3.9% of the Canadian population, yet are
22% of the foster cases in Canada. Cindy Blackstock, of the First
Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, reported for
National Post that, Poverty, poor housing and caregiver substance
abuse are driving aboriginal children into care. First Nations children
tend to stay in foster care longer than non-aboriginal children. They
are more likely to become permanent wards, writer, Sharon Kirkey,
reported. First Nations children are always investigated more than nonaboriginal children. The federal government tends to pay for child
welfare on reserves, but that doesnt always cut it. These children are
given access to cultural resources but when it comes to higher living
expenses, extras such as toys or even certain living essentials like
clothing, theyre on their own. In some provinces, the percentage of
aboriginal foster children rises to 78%.
Lets do some math. If we take the 8590 children four and under
in foster homes and add it to the 11,455 teenaged children in foster
homes we get 20,045. Now if we take that sum and subtract it from our
total number of foster children in Canada, 47,885, we get an amount of
27,840. This final number is the number of foster children in Canada
who are in the system, but without foster homes to live in. This finally
puts it into perspective doesnt it? Therefore, seventeen thousand
homes may seem like a lot on its own but when we find out that those
homes help less than half the total of foster children, it doesnt seem
like as much. With those numbers, we would need approximately
40,000 foster homes rather than 17,000. In Ontario alone, there were
7355 foster children and youth from 2013-2014.
Director of the Centre of Research on Families and Children and
Montreals McGill University social work professor, Nico Trocme, had
some strong information to share. He stated that, Children come into
care because of neglect, emotional maltreatment, exposure to
domestic violence or physical or sexual abuse. Those are some of the
most frightening and hurtful things in this world and that is the kind of
baggage foster children carry with them all their lives from very young
ages. Therefore, yes, they tend to be tougher people to get through to,
but can you blame them? Theyre still ordinary people that have just
had unfortunate upbringings.
Most foster children are in care for a maximum of six months and
are then sent back to their own, original homes, never to return to

foster care. Although that kind of circumstance sounds great, it isnt

always. For whatever reason, the kids were pulled from their home
amidst an awfully tragic situation so what changed in those zero to
six months to make it okay for the children to now safely live at home?
I have first-handedly heard stories about different foster children
and where they came from. My grandparents have fostered for years
so I get to learn more and more all the time. Sometimes it takes
multiple CAS workers and/or police officers to get kids out of their
homes. First of all, imagine how bad their living situation wouldve had
to be for them to have to be taken out that way. No warning, nothing,
just many people storming into your house to take you, a child, or your
kids away. This way would mean that neighbours, friends, or witnesses,
because of tragic situations they had seen, had called Childrens Aid
Society or the police. Second of all, that event, being pulled from your
home and family, would be a scarring situation in itself. The amount of
hurt and anger in these children is heart breaking.
Then there is the other circumstance. The one where children, for
whatever reason, are moved from foster home to foster home all their
childhood. These kids never know when they will suddenly have to
pack up and leave, sometimes so quickly they cant even say goodbye.
John Dunn was in foster care from the age of eighteen months to
eighteen years. He had lived in thirteen different homes during those
sixteen years. He shares from personal experience, Youre always the
new kid in school. Youre always adjusting, youre always losing
friends.
Foster children are human beings, just like you and I. There is
nothing different or wrong with them compared to regular children.
They did not choose their circumstance so all they can do is try their
best to adapt to it. We need to be more mindful and accepting of this
cause. We need to take more initiative to help in any way whether its
opening up our homes to foster children, becoming a CAS driver,
simply donating time and love to these children, or just learning more
about the cause to have more of a softened heart towards them. Even
if we all just knew more about it and had more care for the cause, it
would make a difference. Every one counts. All of us on the same page
together would change the atmosphere around the cause. These
children wouldnt have to feel so secretive and shameful; they would
be able to be real about themselves, who they are, and be comfortable
and satisfied with that. However this wont happen with the current
perspective weve created which is outcast and fear. We all have a
story. Some life stories are even harsher and more complicated than
some foster childrens we cant criticize and put levels to peoples
hurt, anger, and introversion. Dont judge a book by its cover, right?

Whos to say a foster child couldnt dramatically change the world if

they really wanted to, just like any of the rest of us could? I dont know
about you but Id love to see that, and hear that be someone greats
story someday. On top of it, to be part of that story and know I made a
difference incredible. Its a dream of mine to make that kind of
impact.
Works Cited
"Foster Care in Canada." Wikipedia. N.p., 24 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_care_in_Canada>.
"Fostering." Ontario Association of Children's Aid Society. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Jan.
2016. <http://www.oacas.org/childrens-aid-child-protection/fostering/>.
Kirkey, Sharon. "Census 2011: Canadas foster children counted for first time." National
Post. N.p., 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com//news/canada/c
ensus-2011-canadas-foster-children-counted-for-first-time>.
"Who We Are." Ontario Association of Children's Aid Society. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Jan.
2016. <http://www.oacas.org/who-we-are/>.