Foster Care - What is wrong with the system

It has been estimated that 70% of the US prison population was once in foster care. Three in 10 of the nation's homeless adults report foster care history. This points out an obvious problem within our social service network. We must be failing these needy children. There are inadequacies in supervision of the placement of these children, clear indications of corruption within the system as well as neglect of the children’s needs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, and residential treatment centers get paid a daily sum for the care of a foster child. These allocated amounts are based on the Federal entitlement system IV-e and are based on the level of care the child needs. The more difficult the child is to care for the higher the daily payment for care. Thus it is in the interest of the state agencies, social service workers, foster parents, and therapeutic clinicians to make the child appear on paper to need the highest level of care possible. Many foster children are labeled with more than one psychological diagnosis in order to upgrade their status to a higher level. Foster care daily rates run from $17 per day to $1,000 per day. A child diagnosed with a mental disorder and placed on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. Let us hear first hand from some of these foster children who were interviewed at a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked about their experiences in Child Protective Services while still wards of the state.