Hundreds of thousands of children are in foster care in the United States every year, with over 672,000 children spending time in a foster home in 2019. Fostering is meant to provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for children during a time of crisis until they can be reunified with their parents or extended family.
A family who is willing to go out of their way to protect and nurture children at the worst time of their life can make such a difference. Here are three reasons why foster care is important and how it can have a profound impact on a child’s life.
1. Providing Safety and Stability
The first and most fundamental reason why foster care is important is providing safety and stability. Many children taken into foster care face trauma from abuse or neglect. Being a foster parent, you have the chance to be a positive influence and role model for a child. Foster care, for many children, is the only haven they have from all of the issues previously mentioned. Children who are in foster care want normalcy and identity within a healthy family atmosphere. A good foster home creates a sense of belonging that children desperately need.
By offering foster care, you offer a space where children eat, play, and sleep safely; where they don’t have to worry about abuse. Your foster child develops a proper routine by going to school, eating nutritional meals, and having a manageable schedule. Offering that sense of stability promotes growth and learning for a child in need.
2. Providing an Education
Many children taken into foster care lack a consistent educational foundation that they can build on and use to become successful. It’s crucial to provide such a foundation when you consider that so many children struggle to move up the educational ladder. Foster care helps children learn how to be children, first and foremost. Sometimes children in unhealthy situations are forced to be the grown-ups…taking care of themselves and siblings, or by experiencing things beyond what their level of maturity can understand.
The stability of a good foster home allows children to focus on their schoolwork and learning skills that will help them grow into healthy adults. Counseling to help them work through their traumas can give them the vocabulary they need to begin to process what they’ve been through and the realization that they’re worthy of love and healthy life.
Stay Connected to Joy
3. You Stop the Cycle
The other key reason foster care is necessary is that you stop the child from being part of a toxic cycle.
Through positive reinforcement, guidance, and thoughtful attention, children see what good parenting looks like, and by seeing positive influences they’re less likely to continue the cycle they experienced with their biological parents once they grow up.
Foster care also acts as a transitional hub for children while the biological parents work on their issues. It helps not only struggling children but also parents who are aiming to properly fulfill their responsibilities. Biological parents know that their children are in good hands and can focus on getting their lives in order so that when they reunite with their children, there’s a healthy starting point to go from as the children return to their homes.
You Can Bring Joy To A Child’s Life
Providing foster care brings joy to a child’s life by making them feel worthy. It starts the healing process and shapes a child’s future so they can fulfill their potential!
<<< LOCAL FOSTER CARE MENTION HERE >>>
