Literature Review
In relation to the proposed research, the following are some of the studies that reflect on issues of placement moves causing instability and behavioral and mental needs for students in foster care. The studies also seek to point out some of the ways teachers and school administrators have failed in helping foster students.
Placement Moves
In a study, Morton (2015) takes note of the fact that the removal of children from environments that they consider as being familiar to them creates a challenge considering that it becomes somewhat challenging for them to fit into the new environments. The constant movement of children within the foster care system acts as a key factor causing serious instabilities for them in their education. Dubois-Comtois et al. (2015), in their study on disruptions for foster children, take note of the fact that most children in the foster care system often experience disruptions in their education attributed to the regular move from one family to another. The issues of instability attributed to the constant placement moves for foster children can be seen from the fact that children within different foster homes results in low test scores that may force children to actually repeat grades in a bid to catching up with their expected education outcomes (Stone, 2007).
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The result of the placement moves is that most of these children often find themselves experiencing some form of trauma that would impact on their educational outcomes significantly. In most cases, this is driven by the fact that the children lack the expected support systems within schools and homes to help them integrate into their new environments. The children within the foster care system often experience a high need for support in a bid to improving their capacities to dealing with the trauma associated with placement moves (Palmieri & La Salle, 2017). However, the children do not get the support that they would expect from both their foster parents or their teachers in schools, which, in turn, has a great impact on their emotional stability. That serves as one of the key reasons why a majority of these students find themselves in situations where they tend to struggle in life significantly.
Palmieri & La Salle (2017) point to the possibility that the placement moves for the children within the foster care system results in the occurrence of instabilities among the individual students, which is likely to affect their learning outcomes. The fact that most of the children within the foster care system are moved quite often serves as a key challenge for the students in their bid to adapting to the new environments. The children often move from one foster home to another, which is likely to have a serious implication on their capacities to building on their stabilities. Emerson & Lovitt (2003) argue that the placement moves can be considered as key contributors to the issues of indiscipline associated with the children within foster care. The children often use different acts of indiscipline as a way of trying to highlight the challenges that they are experiencing with regard to their constant movements.
Behavioral and Mental Needs
Failure to recognize the differentiated behavioral and mental needs for students in the foster care system creates a major challenge in trying to establish a clear framework through which to handle the varied needs for these students. In a study on behavioral challenges for foster children, Clemens, Klopfenstein, Tis, & Lalonde (2017) reflect on the fact that most of these children are much more likely to experience high rates of absenteeism resulting from the fact that it becomes hard for them to maintain a steady educational calendar. The issue is driven by the fact that most of these children lack the mental care and wellbeing that would enhance their abilities to build on their performance standards. McKellar (2010) suggests that children from foster families suffer from low self-esteem levels considering that they often feel some form of embarrassment or lack of confidence that may lead to their poor performance. In a bid to finding a solution to this, Deutsch, Lynch, Zlotnik, Matone, Kreider, & Noonan (2015) reflect on the value that teachers and parents have on these children in ensuring that they receive the necessary support as they move from one home to another as a way of improving on their confidence levels.
Bernedo, Salas, García-Martín, & Fuentes (2012) argue that dealing with children within the foster system presents a much better understanding in trying to examine and find solutions to some of the key problems and challenges that they are experience. In this study, what remains clear is that it is essential for teachers to learn the importance of helping foster children out. Williams-Mbengue (2016) reflects on the fact that a majority of teachers and school administrations in learning institutions have failed in their bid to serving as the expected support systems for children in foster care. The ultimate result that this has had is that it has affected the foster students in trying to cope with the expectations within the new learning environments taking into account the number of children that the students change schools every academic year.
References
Bernedo, I. M., Salas, M. D., García-Martín, M. A., & Fuentes, M. J. (2012). Teacher assessment of behavior problems in foster care children. Children and Youth Services Review , 34 (4), 615-621.
Clemens, E. V., Klopfenstein, K., Tis, M., & Lalonde, T. L. (2017). Educational stability policy and the interplay between child welfare placements and school moves. Children and Youth Services Review , 83 , 209-217.
Deutsch, S. A., Lynch, A., Zlotnik, S., Matone, M., Kreider, A., & Noonan, K. (2015). Mental health, behavioral and developmental issues for youth in foster care. Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care , 45 (10), 292-297.
Dubois-Comtois, K., Bernier, A., Tarabulsy, G. M., Cyr, C., St-Laurent, D., Lanctôt, A. S., ... & Béliveau, M. J. (2015). Behavior problems of children in foster care: Associations with foster mothers’ representations, commitment, and the quality of mother–child interaction. Child abuse & neglect , 48 , 119-130.
Emerson, J., & Lovitt, T. (2003). The educational plight of foster children in schools and what can be done about it. Remedial and Special Education , 24 (4), 199-203.
McKellar, N. (2010). Foster Care for Children: Information for Educators. Helping Children at Home and at School , 3 , 1-4.
Morton, B. M. (2015). Barriers to academic achievement for foster youth: The story behind the statistics. Journal of Research in Childhood Education , 29 (4), 476-491.
Palmieri, L. E., & La Salle, T. P. (2017). Supporting students in foster care. Psychology in the Schools , 54 (2), 117-126.
Stone, S. (2007). Child maltreatment, out-of-home placement and academic vulnerability: A fifteen-year review of evidence and future directions. Children and Youth Services Review , 29 (2), 139-161.
Williams-Mbengue, N. (2016). The social and emotional well-being of children in foster care. In National Conference of State Legislatures
