Essay Sample on Privatized Foster Care Homes

Introduction

The main reason for children placement in foster care is to ensure their welfare, safety and protection is provided. There exists a conundrum on whether states should privatize the foster care services depending on the state of children. Currently, more children are being placed in foster care systems than before, and the public foster care homes are finding it difficult to manage the cases. Since they all look for the promotion of children welfare, the current government system has been deemed inefficient as the quality of services has been deteriorating. Children have been placed in homes where they are exposed to neglect, child abuse and sometimes torture and death. Some of them have been deprived their right to education as follow-up and management of the services in public foster care is tiring and costly. The bureaucratic systems established by the government have increased public and social cost and have compromised the welfare of children due to inefficiency and poor management. The U.S foster cares autonomous system is destructive as children are being placed in abusive environments. Therefore, the foster care system needs to be changed, so they are held accountable for the neglect and abuse of children.

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It is very evident that the current system of foster home established by the government has been inefficient in the allocation of resources to promote the welfare of the children in foster care and homes. The government operated foster care is unable to offer permanence, therefore, endangering the welfare of those placed in foster care. The problems that are illuminated by the current system include children being placed in multiple homes in short periods, staying in foster care for more extended periods, abuse in foster care homes, inadequate investigation of childhood abuse, loss of information and files, incomplete paperwork and large caseloads (Barillas 26). Some children are dying after placement due to the inability of the current system to investigate the abuse reports as a result of being overburdened. The danger posed by the system calls for a change through the establishment of private Foster Care. The current system spends more resources through the placement and investigation of child welfare as well as other family services. Unlike the public, privatizing the foster care home introduces a management system that will present all measures meant to ensure the safety and welfare of the children. The public system is incapable of offering the stability and safety of the children once they become available for adoption. Children are therefore deprived off their chance to have a permanent, safe and stable homes. The government operated foster care is very detrimental to child welfare.

In every year, more than 100,000 children languish in foster care waiting to get adopted and have a stable and loving family while over 20,000 children don't experience permanence ("Child Welfare Information Gateway"). The current government foster care in the united states has been unsuccessful in promising and delivering good outcomes to the children. Those who remain in the foster care are exposed to poor outcomes in life thus adding to societal and public costs. The inability of the system to conduct a thorough investigation of issues about child abuse and their lack of sufficient resources to identify adoptive familiesclearly endangers the likelihood of permanence and child safety. The state of Kansas and Michigan have implemented the private foster care, and the success of the system is unmatched compared to the public one. Based on the efficiency and effectiveness of private foster care, privatizing foster care will, therefore, add to the safety of children in adoption and help in maintaining permanence and children welfare. Private foster care ensures the rights of the children are protected as they follow up on the condition of the fostered and adopted children. Privatizing increase the number of adoption and the management system places the children to be the main priority regarding their welfare. Government regulation in privatizing foster care is limited to approval of the private entities which means private foster care will be successful. Privatizing foster care means the agencies involved will perform background research as well as talk to the children on what kind of families they may want thus making the system efficient. Privatized foster care, therefore, reduces the cost incurred when children remain in foster care for long periods by increasing the rate of placements which are productive.

Privatization of foster care can be done in different services where the overall claim remains with the government. Private agencies should be tasked with the responsibility of conducting investigations of the child abuse cases. The government should also hire private agencies to perform background checks on the foster parents to ensure child safety and welfare is placed at the highest level. The current government system does provide all the services which deplete their resources (Noonan, Charlse & William 536). The provision of additional services and background check should be privatized. The division of services to different agencies will increase efficiency by increasing the stability, safety, and promotion of children welfare.

Privatization of Foster care presents a profit incentive where the cost will be cut, and efficiency increased. When a state decides to privatize the human services, the reasons behind the move have always been based on efficiency and financial factors. The private sector in foster care introduces salary structures in case of management when it comes to children foster care. Private agencies have the capability of hiring cheap labor and offering competitive services. By outcomes, it becomes challenging for the current government foster care model to assess themselves regarding the critical incidents and outcomes objectively. For private agencies, self-assessment will be achieved, and the management will improve the efficiency in placement. In case of a lead agency, finance s and time are saved as the agency will be responsible for contracting and negotiating (Glisson & Philip 586) The agency will be better placed in the community to understand who to contract with for the best outcome of a child. Privatization of Foster care homes cuts owns the confusion experienced in various involvements of different professionals and yields more success. There is a reduction of government involvement and political influence that brings about difficult and expedient decision on the lives of children in foster care.

The stability of placement in foster care affects the children both physically and mentally. Since the primary focus is to achieve a normal state where the welfare of the child is improved, the foster home should be able to provide a normal family life. Within the public system being run by the government, the chances of permanence have become limited, and children have been exposed to abuse. The reporting of abuse cases seems to take a long time and when an action is taken it is sometimes too late to stop the suffering. The foster family has some expectation as well as the foster home. Foster care is temporary, and some of the children will desire permanence (Ensign & Jaymee 45). Privatization, unlike the current system, will cater for permanence in the best way possible. After the placement, the children together with the foster family are given a chance to go for adoption where monitoring will be improved. In doing so, the children welfare is assessed to ensure they are comfortable and are not abused in their new homes. Privatization, therefore, presents the new model for change required to change the current system. However, it will be imperative to ensure that the government has a control function in privatization. The effort will introduce effectiveness since it will be a collaboration of government and private agencies in providing the welfare and safety of the children in foster homes is protected.

The opponents of privatization indicate that the introduction of a market-oriented foster home will contribute to more negative effects than heal the current system. Privatization is suggested to bring a mechanism which will assess the desirability of children and the government won't be able to regulate what will happen. Blackstone & Simon Hakim (485) expound that the system will offer limitation on the convenience as parents with the will to offer foster care to the children will be put back by the prices. An intersection between willingness and resources will illustrate that the children without desirable characteristic will be left for long in foster homes and may probably lack a suiting family. Privatization also will diminish the chances of the poor getting a chance to adopt a family. On the part of desirability, it may imply children have fewer needs by physical and mental needs. The move may be unethical and may leave more children suffering due to neglect and abuse. The opponents, therefore, indicate privatization does not help in improving the outcomes (McRoy 46). They argue that accountability in privatization becomes limited as a two-tier system is introduced where one may not be evaluated on the aspect of handling a child. Privatization is not the solution to stop the suffering, abuse, and neglect of foster kids.

Privatization efforts are indicated to yield mixed results regarding sustainability and cost involved. The family and child outcomes between public and privatized systems of the foster care have been different. While it is clear a system change is required, both public and private models have some negative results in improving the children welfare. The federal system has been failing in different states, and sometimes it is challenging to offer assessments of their services due to limited resources. Privatization is the way to go for the foster homes. Privatization will eventually result in adoption and involves willingness so the children will be moved to a home where they are desired. Accountability will be improved since the private agency will inherit the rights of the child which means the child can choose where they want to be placed. Privatization will help in diminishing the undesired outcomes involving child abuse, neglect and other forms of maltreatment.

Conclusion

In brief, it is clear that there is a need for a system change to deal with the neglect and child abuse in foster care. The government systems fall short regarding resources while the private foster homes have been efficiently offering quality services. Privatization, therefore, is crucial in ensuring the children welfare is improved and managed. However, the government should also be included in the system change since there is regulation to be checked. Since it is hard to assess the state foster home system, privatization will present the best options in managed foster homes which do not put the lives of children at risk. Conclusively, the foster home system requires a change ensure the children are placed in the best environments.

Works Cited

Barillas, Katherine Howard. "State capacity: the missing piece in child welfare privatization." Child Welfare 90.3 (2011).

Blackstone, Erwin A., and Simon Hakim. "A market alternative to child adoption and foster care." Cato J. 22 (2002): 485.

"Child Welfare Information Gateway". Child & Family Services Reviews, 2018, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/monitoring/child - family - services - reviews. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.

Ensign, Karl, and Jaymee Metzenthin. "Achieving Desired Outcomes by Privatizing Child Welfare Service Delivery." Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing 10.2.

Glisson, Charles, and Philip Green. "Organizational climate, services, and outcomes in child welfare systems." Child abuse...