Bring back orphanages--An alternative to foster care?

Barton S. Allen and James S. Vacca

Children and Youth Services Review, 2011, vol. 33, issue 7, 1067-1071

Abstract: The current foster care system in America has not been successful in transitioning youth who are in the system to become productive, independent adults in today's society. Study after study cites the poor adjustment of foster care youth in school settings because of constant change in foster care placements and the corresponding poor achievement of these students. We find many of the youth needing public aide, working at low-paying jobs (if working at all), often caught up in the criminal corrections system, and homeless. Having had no permanent home and very often lacking positive role models, these children have little opportunity to build a solid foundation that might give them the chance to succeed. In addition, the current foster care system has in place short-term home placements, and this system is failing. What is needed are long-term placements for these children-placements that last until adulthood. What we are suggesting is that we as a society consider bringing back orphanages-wellrun facilities that provide a stable environment over time, good educational opportunities, and the chance for the children to develop emotionally in a secure, nurturing environment such as those found at Boys Town, the Hershey School, Kinderhaus and The SEED Foundation.

Keywords: Foster; care; Orphanages; Alternatives; Education; Self-concept; Individual; differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740911000399
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:33:y:2011:i:7:p:1067-1071

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().