It is unfortunate that some people were molested in their childhood years, which is terrifying and traumatic and could have life-long effects. Such an event could be an accident, trauma inflicted by another individual through assault or abuse, a natural disaster, witnessing the killing of a loved one among many others. Regardless of the cause or form of the traumatic event, trauma leaves an imprint on the brain of the victim. For instance, Griffiths, Murphy and Harper (2016) have consistently established that Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is directly linked to increased brain activity in the brain area that processes fear with decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. The effects of trauma can be severe, with tremendous psychological effects on the victims (Griffiths, Murphy and Harper, 2016). These victims end up having a mixed range of emotions that are frustrating to their psyche, which include sadness, fear, anxiety and anger. As a result different adverse effects, both physical and psychological can develop (Barth et al ., 2017). These adverse effects can manifest immediately or over an extended period. There are steps that can be taken with the help of professionals and individuals to mitigate the psychosomatic effects.
The high prevalence of child sexual abuse in the foster care system is the result of negligence by foster care system workers. This essay focuses on children in the foster care systems that have been sexually assaulted by their foster caregivers. When a child is reported to be living in unstable home conditions for a variety of reasons, the child protective services is mandated to place the child in foster care homes (Pecora et al., 2017) . The foster care system is also used as a temporary solution as their real parents work on their issues, serve sentences, among other reasons, as they wait to be reunited with their children.
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Unfortunately, the foster care system cannot guarantee the safety of these children from molestation and sexual abuse (Petersen et al., 2014). Children that have been sexually assaulted go through early life stress (ELS) which is linked to psychopathology later in life, and often contributes to alterations in the brain that have long-term effects (Riebschleger and Damashek, 2015). Such long-term effects have been found in adult women who suffered childhood sexual abuse.
Sexual abuse on children can be described as any unwanted sexual behavior (kissing, touching, penetrating or groping) on a child who is not legally able to consent to such behavior (Euser et al., 2014). Actions that do not involve touching can also constitute sexual abuse, such as taking inappropriate pictures of sexual nature of a child
Today, it is estimated that more than 530,000 children in the US are living in the foster care system at any given time (American SPCC., 2018). These children are put in this system because they have been put through different forms of abuse and neglect or abandoned by their parents, and it is a shame that some of them have to go through abuse again in the foster care homes.
Prevalence of Sexual Abuse on Foster Care Children
The most recent federal data indicates that there are more than 400,000 children living in the foster care system in the United States ( Child Sexual Abuse Facts, 2018) . These children range from infants to 21 years of age in some states, with the average age being slightly above 8 years old and there are more boys than girls in the foster care system ( Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2014). At this point it is important to note that all these children have experienced loss and various forms of trauma in their early life. These children are not different from others not in the foster system, and all they need is the stability and love.
The median amount of time spent by children in foster care is slightly above a year, with more than half of the children in the foster care system being able to reunite with their families or their primary caregivers. Almost a quarter of these children are adopted by their foster parents or their relatives ( Child Sexual Abuse Facts, 2018) . It is estimated that every year, about 20,000 children get out of the system as they attain the age of 18 or 21 depending on the state, or when they are done with their high school education ( American SPCC., 2018) . However, they are still at high risk of experiencing poor educational outcomes that lead to unemployment and homelessness.
In the Unites states (US), the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014 saw the alleged maltreatment of an estimated 6.6 million children. Of these, 3.6 million cases of neglect and child abuse referrals were made; 3.2 million were investigated or received an alternative response ( American SPCC., 2018) . These cases of maltreatment resulted in 702,208 confirmed cases according to the US department of health and human services in 2016. 75 % of these children were placed in the system because of neglect, 17% due to physical abuse, 8.3 % due to sexual abuse, 6.8% due to other types of abuse, and 6% due to psychological abuse ( Riebschleger and Damashek, 2015) . It is estimated that at least one quarter of all cases investigated by the child protective services are substantiated hence bringing the question of the safety of the said child in their current home setting ( Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2014) . In some states, sexual abuse is a real threat to the foster care system. For instance, in 2013, in the state of Kentucky, more children were placed and changed from one home to another in the foster system due to sexual abuse than any other reason
Children in foster care systems are most vulnerable because they lack the self-confidence and strength required to speak out on issues such as sexual abuse. On many occasions, children are taken from one depressing home life and sent by the system to live in similar situation, just on a different geographical location ( Pallone and Prendergast 2016) . Such problems in this system are intrinsic to low budgets, understaffing, desperation, and lack of training for the foster care worker that makes systems’ workers unable to provide the required level of inspection and supervision to ensure the safety of these children ( Pecora et al. , 2017) . In the system, there are temporary and short-term emergency placements in which these children are most vulnerable ( Griffiths, Murphy and Harper, 2016) . Individuals and state workers that have been entrusted with the responsibility to provide these short-term services often fail to undertake adequate investigation on the foster parents in addition to failing to supervise these children once they have been placed into the foster homes with the new caregivers.
In such moments of vulnerability, sexual predators seize the opportunity to heinously abuse new victims. At this point, these children are very vulnerable as they do not have a trusted adult through whom they can voice their helplessness ( Euser et al., 2016) . Being children, they are forced to live with a feeling of helplessness and endure sexual abuse even for extended periods of time, and, for them, the meaning of home changes to a place of neglect, loneliness, abuse and isolation, which often has long-term effects and affects their ability to have relationships with other people.
Although sexual assault happens in the foster care systems more often than we care to admit, it is not so because of lack of policies and guidelines on the screening and background checks on foster parents. Policies and procedures have been put in place in the system to screen against child molesters. In most cases, these cases of abuse result from negligence in the part of the state and its subcontractors that are tasked with executing the mandate of placing the children in foster homes and protecting them ( Child Sexual Abuse Facts, 2018) . They basically fail in their role to protect these children, sometimes due to the problems (such as understaffing, low budgets, and lack of training among others) they encounter in their line of work as mention in this paper ( Petersen et al., 2014) . In other cases, the state workers just ignore the signs that these children are being assaulted while in the care system, and the fact that pursuing such signs of abuse will mean that the system is liable for the resulting sexual abuse.
In 2013, a study was conducted to investigate the year 2010 prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in both residential and foster care system and to compare them against each other and the general population. The research found that residential arrangements are often characterized by large and constantly changing peer groups with constant changes and instability of caregivers (Euser et al ., 2014). Foster care home systems are thought to be a more stable environment. In the two types of care, transition seems to take place more often than it is desired ( Riebschleger and Damashek, 2015) . These frequent transitions only work to the disadvantage of the children as the non-biological relationship between the child and every new caregiver, and other factors such as possible previous maltreatment experiences expose the child to risk of abuse (CSA).
In the study, Euser et al. (2016) used professional workers reports of CSA in residential and foster care system (sentinels), and secondly, he used the reports of adolescents residing in the sentinels who reported their individual CSA experiences. Sentinel report found that 3.5 in 1,000 children were victims of CSA while 248 in 1,000 adolescents reported being victims of CSA. Of these cases, 89% of the abuses in residential care system were 12 years and older compared to 32% of those in foster home in the same age group. The prevalence rates in the foster home systems did not have a significant difference with that of general population setup. The study concluded that adolescent children in residential care system are at the highest risk of CSA than any other setup in the society; which is an indicator that there is a dire need to make improvements in the system.
Family structure has been found to be the most important risk factor in CSA. There is a significant difference between the children abused in the foster care system as compared to those living in their conventional and biological parents’ home care systems. Children who live with two biological parents that are married are at the lowest risk of sexual abuse ( Griffiths, Murphy & Harper, 2016) . The risk increases for children that live with single or step parents. The risk further increases for children without either parent. They are ten times at risk of CSA compared to those living with both biological parents. The risk is highest for single parents that have a live-in partner, as they are 20 times more likely to become victims of CSA in their teenage years when compared to those with both biological parents ( Euser et al., 2016) . Gender is a significant risk factor as girls are 5 times more likely to be sexually abused than boys ( Pallone & Prendergast, 2016) . Age is also a factor, as only 8% of boys are abused before the age of 8 while the median age of reported abuse is 9 years.
Crisis Intervention
The crisis intervention for child abuse and neglect manual by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families defines crisis as any interruptions or upsets in a steady family state, especially the turning point from which the child’s situation heads for the worse. Such a crisis constitutes situation and circumstances that cannot be fixed by the conventional or customary approaches to solving a problem ( Petersen et al., 2014) . At this point, one should note that a crisis is fundamentally different from an emergency situation or a conventional problem. When a problem brings about stress and could be difficult to solve, an individual or the family collectively is capable of creating a solution, and thus such a problem is not a crisis. An emergency can be termed as a sudden but pressing necessity which requires immediate attention from professionals or law enforcers among others that are trained to handle life-threatening occurrences ( Pallone and Prendergast 2016) . A situation that can wait 24-72 hours for a response without threatening the life of an individual or the family is not an emergency but a crisis ( Euser et al., 2014) . A crisis is typically characterized by a stressful situation that is difficult to cope with the timing of intervention-interaction that makes each crisis unique.
The child welfare service systems provide a framework for public policy and service response that aim at improving the capacity of parents and caregivers to stop certain undesirable behaviors and change to better ones that are desirable and whose contribution are healthy to the development of a child. Both qualitative and quantitative research has been carried out in the work of Child Protective Services (CPS) to determine the experiences and perceptions with regard to crisis and intervention ( Euser et al., 2016) . The findings have consistently found that CSA as a crisis does not happen in isolation but is rather deeply interwoven into the fabric of everyday life for both the abuser and their victims. With that in mind, there are crisis intervention frameworks that are applicable across various crisis contexts both locally and nationally. With the available data and findings on this subject, CSA crisis intervention can be best illustrated through case application ( Euser et al., 2014) . The crisis intervention framework is universally applicable since the nature of assistance that abused the children require and the psychological sequelae of abuse are universal.
In an example case study, Jane aged 14, is sexually abused by her stepfather for almost a year when her mother discovers a note of sexual nature that Jane wrote to him. Jane’s mom is enraged and decides to call child protective services before having a heated exchange with the stepfather ( Alessi, Kahn and Chatterji, 2016) . The case is taken to court, Jane and her mother testify and her stepfather is sentenced to serve a 25-year prison sentence. What is interesting is Jane’s testimony because she says that her dad was better than her mom because he took her for trips, bought her gifts and cared about her as an adult and she does not mind what he did ( Foster and Hagedorn, 2014) . This testimony is put in context in comparison to her mother who she says treats her “like a stupid kid who has to be bossed around” as opposed to the stepfather who lets her drink beer and smoke cigarettes.
Jane’s case is an illustration of how children can be wrong in perceiving abuse. It also shows that these victims struggle to make sense of the abuse acts in an attempt to mitigate the effects on their psychological well-being by creating a positive internalization of their abuser ( Alessi, Kahn and Chatterji, 2016) . For crisis intervention to be effective, appropriate professional assessment and understanding of the crisis situation is necessary ( Pecora et al. , 2017) . As noted in this paper, the intervention workers can follow the following six universal steps to guide their action.
Empathically and supportively listen to the victim’s case
Take the initial intervention step to stabilize and de-escalate the situation and create safety for the victim as well as handle their immediate needs (could be the child needs medical attention)
Examine the extent of the crisis as well as the victim’s reaction to it while encouraging ventilation – reassure the child to open up and not to blame themselves
Explore the available courses of action and their alternatives
Guide the victim to mobilize the available resources and/or connect them with the needed resources
Anticipate and make arrangements for the future and follow ups to ensure the well-being of the victim.
In the event of a crisis, such as neglect, physical abuse or molestation report and subsequent investigation, the victim is likely to receive intervention measures from outsiders (Pecora et al., 2017). At this point focused and coordinated efforts by crisis intervention workers should take over and guide the victim and their family solve their issues or even make a decision to change the entire family setup for the victimized child depending on their professional assessment of the particular situation.
Biblical Stance on Child Sexual Assault
Sexual abuse has been in the society for thousands of years, and even in the Old Testament -2 Samuel 13; 11-20 tells a story of Amnon who conspired to have sex with his half-sister. Like in today’s world, the victims of such abuse were told to keep these events a secret. The bible does not have a direct stance against or for sexual assault on children. However, the bible is vocal against any form of exploitation on the weak and vulnerable and it indicates that the Lord takes up the cause of the vulnerable victims ( McCoy, 2017) . Deuteronomy 22:25-27 safeguards the life of a survivor of a sexual assault from being ignored or blamed and terms it as an unjust act, while at the same time condemning the man ruling that he must die for committing the heinous act. In the modern world, thousands of years later, children and adolescents are being sexually abused by the millions and some have to carry the traumatic burden in silence for the rest of their lives ( Tishelman and Fontes, 2017) . In Isaiah 61: 1, 3, the lord promises that he shall transform and heal the weak and desolate out of the darkness and silence and into the light with voices of joy and hope
The bible is vocal in fighting for the dignity of women and the weak in the society. The scripture recognizes rape as a violent crime and classifies it at par with murder; where the attacker alone should be held responsible because they overpower their victims who did not consent and hence are considered blameless. The bibles verdict is in line with the legal verdict on sexual assault because in both cases consent is the key ( McCoy, 2017) . In the American law, children under the ages of 18 or 21 (depending on the state) cannot legally consent to sexual activity, especially with an adult. Sexual assault against children is an appalling reality in the sin-stricken world we live in, and its psychological and emotional damage remain for years after the act is committed ( Tishelman and Fontes, 2017) . The bible is against hurting children and more importantly against all manners of sexual sins and perversions.
The bible speaks highly of caring for the children. Ephesians 6:4 notes that fathers should not frustrate their children but should instead raise them up right and train them according to the instructions and will of God ( McCoy, 2017) . James 1:27 notes that proper care for children is an act that pleases God, and religion that is acceptable to Lord God the father is one that takes care of the orphans and widows in their time of helplessness and need and keep them from being polluted by the world ( Schetky, 2014) . Psalm 127:3 reckons that children are a heritage from the Lord, and the bible goes on and on about caring for the weak, the poor, and the needy alike (Proverbs 14:31; 17:5; 19:17; 31:8–9) among many other verses –and this definitely includes at-risk children
Sexual abuse on children causes them unspeakable harm, and the victims often feel desperation, guilt, dirty, demoralized and they may lack self-esteem as see themselves as of no to little value. The abusers go against god will by not treating their victims as God’s handy work but as objects for their sexual gratification ( Schetky, 2014) . The bible requires that all believers must refuse to fill their mind with sexually defiant materials but rather fill their mind with pure thoughts and love (Philippians 4:8). As the word of God teaches, people should learn to develop a sense of respect while also valuing the lives and well-being of other persons ( McCoy, 2017) . Additionally, individuals should have repugnance for sexual sin, especially against children, and realize that such are violations against the laws of God and Christians and god shall judge them as such as the bible notes in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 .
Conclusion
Without a doubt, sexual assault on children in or out of the foster care system has undesirable life-long effects on the victims’ emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. As the statistics have revealed as indicated in this paper, the prevalence rate for sexual abuse on children by their foster caregivers is high and alarming, especially for teenage girls in the residential and foster home systems. The high rates of prevalence are inherent to the constantly changing caregivers and per groups and the continued lack of stability in both residential and foster care home system. Family structure was found to be the most important risk factor in CSA. There is a significant difference risks in children abused in the foster care system those living in their conventional and biological parents’ home care systems. Children who live with two biological parents that are married were found to be at lowest risk of sexual abuse. Children that live with single or step parents were found to be 10 times more at risk of CSA compared to those living with both biological parents. The risk is highest for single parents that have a live-in partner, as their children are 20 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in their teenage years compared to those living with both biological parents. On the spiritual perspective, the bible is vocal against sexual assault, sexual sins and all manners of perversions, and more importantly against any and all forms of subjugation against children, widows and other groups comprising of the less fortunate in the society. To curb this menace of child sexual abuse requires combined efforts from all stakeholders and individuals involved in the entire process of giving decent home settings for these less fortunate children.
References
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