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Last Updated: Feb 16th, 2008 - 17:39:39 |
Children are born biologically prepared to depend upon primary caregivers -- a mom, dad, grandmother, foster parent or adoptive parent. Any of these will work, but it's important that a child has somebody.
Babies rely on caregivers for help with virtually everything -- temperature regulation, protection from disease, feelings of security, among other things. When children experience maltreatment at the hands of caregivers or disruptions in relationships, there is a fundamental failure in this caregiving system.
Over the last 15 years, my research group at the University of Delaware has been exploring how young children cope with these failures in caregiving, and the possibilities for repair.
The Infant Caregiver Project at the university has conducted research in collaboration with Delaware Division of Family Services. We are lucky to have Carlyse Giddens at the helm. It would be easy for administrators to turn us away, concerned that our research could cast them in a bad light. This is a testament to their interest in children's ultimate welfare.
The first thing we found was that even the youngest children in foster care often behave in ways that push their new foster parents away. Babies are not aware of why they do this, but their behavior is compelling nonetheless.
Pushed away
When children behave as if they do not need anyone, caregivers respond accordingly and a cycle begins. Consider your own reaction if you offered to help someone but were rebuffed. You might not feel like offering more help.
The situation is similar for the caregiver of a baby who turns away. The difference is adults don't expect a child to have such an impact on us. Our findings suggest that even very young children can "lead the dance."
The second important thing we've learned is that young children's physiology -- as well as behavior -- is affected by early adversity.
Over the years, there have been many studies showing the effects of early separation on animals. In one classic study, Seymour Levine separated infant monkeys from their mothers. Some young monkeys were in cages next to their mothers; others were in cages far away, where they could not hear or smell the mothers. The monkeys next to their mothers cried much more than those that were totally separated. However, the monkeys that were totally separated showed higher levels of stress hormones.
This parallels what is seen among young children in foster care at times. I have heard people remark that a young child adjusted "easily" to a new foster home. When thinking about how my own children would adjust if they were suddenly placed with new parents, I find this difficult to believe.
It seems important to consider that children's behavior may not tell the whole story.
We have found that young children in foster care show different patterns of stress hormone production across the day than other children. This seems to indicate disruptions and adjustments to new parents are challenging, and the child's developing brain is affected by these experiences.
So how can young children be helped with the challenges of losing caregivers? We've developed a training program for foster parents that sensitizes them to these issues. Parents are helped to re-interpret children's behavior so they are not pushed away and they can develop their ability to regulate physiology.
When parents received this intervention, their children developed more trusting relationships with caregivers, and had more normal levels of stress hormones.
But we expect there is a limit to the effectiveness of any training program.
That's because every child also needs someone who is committed to him or her -- someone who would put herself between the child and danger, someone who glows when she talks about the youngster.
But foster care is designed as a temporary system of surrogate care. Historically, foster parents were warned not to commit to children. The problem is that children, especially the very young, don't understand temporary care. For a baby, even several days is a very long time. Indeed, after several days, the new foster mother becomes the child's mother.
One of their own
We have found that foster parents who become highly committed to children seem to give them what they need most. Foster parents who think of a child as their own raise children who develop a more positive sense of themselves and others.
Therefore, we advocate re-thinking foster care and the child welfare system generally at the national level. While safety clearly matters, a child's security with an available, committed parent -- whether by birth, adoption or foster care -- is of equal importance. Figuring out how children can have someone who will be there for them no matter what is critical.
There are no easy solutions, but several steps could move the child welfare system in the direction of better meeting young children's developmental needs.
First, when decisions are made regarding the removal of young children from their birth parents' care, the likelihood of reunification should be considered. When reunification is really likely, attempts should be made to keep the family intact.
Huge obstacles confront parents who have neglected or abused their children. Given that such children are usually tougher to parent than others because of early adversity, these birth parents need special skills similar to foster parents.
The odds of being able to do that without training aren't good.
Child welfare agencies often don't have the financial resources to invest heavily in such services. But long-term savings in foster care, special education and prisons are likely to result.
Other examples of keeping families together include placing mothers and children together with a supportive foster parent, and keeping mothers and babies together in prisons after incarcerated women give birth.
While efforts to keep families together may be important for the birth parents, the child's perspective is most important. The rights of adults should be secondary to those of children.
When young children are removed from their birth parents, it is essential that they be placed with someone who can commit to them.
Delaware and the nation have come a long way on this. In the early 1990s, foster care and adoption were typically distinct systems. Now foster parents are certified as adoptive parents, obviating the need for new home studies and certification in cases of adoption.
We advocate moving further to a system where babies who must enter foster care are placed exclusively with parents who can make a commitment for life. Subsequent decisions should be made in terms of the child's interests and stability. That's more important than being reunited with siblings, birth parents or grandparents, or finding adoptive parents of the same color or ethnicity as the child.
Issues of identity for an older child or adolescent will be much easier to resolve if he or she has had a stable, loving, committed caregiver.
This system will require that the pool of foster parents be broadened. But humans have the unique ability to love someone else's children as our own.
Copyright ©2007, The News Journal.
© Copyright 2008 by AdoptionDesk.com
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