Developmentally Disabled Children In the Foster Care System

Abstract

"Foster care is intended to offer a supportive family environment to children whose natural parents cannot raise them because of the parents' physical or mental illness, the child's behavioral difficulties, or problems within the family environment, e.g., child abuse, alcoholism, extreme poverty, or crime," (www.encyclopedia,com) and since this is not the case for the developmentally disabled population, this study intends to examine the situation more fully. The study investigates the care developmentally disabled foster children receive, the parenting techniques the foster parents utilize and problems within the foster care system. As a result of this study, problems within the foster homes, the Light Agency and the larger foster care system are highlighted and analyzed in order to improve the service provided to the special needs population in the future.