Foster care is a setup for failure.
The current foster care system has some fundamental flaws in the ways it prepares youths for transition into adulthood. Often these children are taken out of their homes due to neglect and abuse, creating an unstable living environment.
The foster care system is essentially set up to provide a familial setting in which the child is taught how to be a functioning member of a family and society. These children are not being taught essential life skills to help them survive into adulthood.
I believe foster parents should be required to teach their foster children, who will become adults while in the system, how to apply for a credit card, balance a checkbook, apply for college, obtain a driver’s license, and many other life skills that are often forgotten about or glossed over in our current system.
Though the foster care system has the transition to an adult living program, it is not mandatory. It does not provide a familial setting where the child can feel free to explore and even make mistakes on their journey to adulthood.
Many may be concerned with the cost of additional training. However, when we consider the cost the public pays if and when these former foster children become incarcerated, the training would be much more cost-effective and the right thing to do for these children.
Foster care is supposed to be a family setting, and no family would want their child to be set up to fail. Let us ensure these vulnerable youth are set up for success.
Heather Curtis, West Jordan
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