Re: Foster Care.

[Quantum Weirdness]

Does anybody have information on the wellbeing of children in Foster care?

[Cow Poke]

Does anybody have information on the wellbeing of children in Foster care?

That's a loaded question, probably because it's so subjective.

I have known of quite a few families - including my own - where foster children were treated very well.

Many times, however, these children come into a family with incredible hurt and trauma. One of my church families had a foster child who THREE TIMES tried to burn their house down. They were constantly in court over this child, but nobody else wanted him.

So, while you might turn out statistics based on something like academic progress or behavioral problems, etc... you'd have to also look at how much more "at risk" these children were than birth members of their fostering families.

When my Mom was finishing up raising up 9 kids, she started taking in foster kids. When people ask why she did that, I'd joke, "because we made her insane", then follow seriously with "she's a mother - that's what she does". We had foster kids for short periods of time, and ours were more related to the in-between time of custody battles - our experiences were VERY good.

One other aspect -- most foster (I think) programs pay foster parents a certain amount, which is certainly good, but unfortunately, there are people who take the kids in "for the money". I've had some of them actually tell me that - it was part of their financial plan.