The New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc. is an advocacy organization of over 160 adoptive and foster parent groups throughout New York State. The purpose of this statement is to address the problem of child abuse/neglect allegations against adoptive and foster families. The problem exists in New York State and throughout the country.

Under no circumstances do we condone child abuse/neglect in any family. However, we recognize there are circumstances which make some adoptive and foster families especially vulnerable to reports of abuse/neglect and susceptible to misjudgments. These circumstances are as follows:

• Children who have experienced the uncertainties and insecurities of years of foster care, often with multiple moves, have been damaged in ways which affect their behavior for years. Many children who have suffered such damage have learned maladaptive or anti-social coping behaviors. They are manipulative, unable to trust, lack a sense of honesty and responsibility, and are deficient in many areas of their development.
• Such children, due to their histories, typically behave in ways which jeopardize the security and stability of the families diligently striving to undo some of the damage of the past and to help the children develop more appropriate and socially acceptable behaviors. These children often lie and play on the responses of other adults who do not view their behaviors in the context of the children's prior experiences. Some children deliberately hurt those who offer help and try to destroy close relationships. After a sequence of adult rejections, they cannot accept that others care about or love them. It is not uncommon for the children themselves to make false reports of abuse/neglect in an effort to control adult behavior or to deal with fears of close relationships.
• Adoptive and foster parents of difficult or emotionally disturbed children are often subjected to community scrutiny and suspicion that birth families do not experience. Adoptive and foster families are sometimes highly visible in their communities due to their size or composition. Many people do not understand why someone would choose to parent older children, large numbers of children, children with handicapping conditions or negative histories. Hence, they are suspicious of adoptive and foster parents' motives.
• Agency standards for investigations of alleged child abuse/neglect are not uniform in practice nor necessarily of high quality. Protective services workers may be untrained or inexperienced. Workers may not be familiar with the complexities of the pathologies displayed by the children and the stresses they bring to family living. The child's psychological, medical, and educational records may not be considered in an investigation. Appropriate child management techniques and therapeutic interventions may be viewed out of context by those not familiar with their purposes. Unsubstantiated charges can go unchallenged, and the New York State evidentiary standard in child abuse/neglect investigations of "some credible evidence" can result in overly subjective decisions.

Due to these factors, adoptive and foster parents can be unfairly targeted and unduly stressed. Instead of receiving support and assistance from the community, they may be forced to expend their energies on defending themselves rather than getting on with their parenting job.

Adoptive and foster parents join with all parents in seeking acceptance and support from their communities. We share a commitment to our children and a belief in the value of family life. Above all, we seek the health and well-being of all of our children. Therefore, we support the following:

• Continued efforts to identify child abusers/neglectors to assure that all children are safe and that their parents provide nurturing environments.
• Increased preventive, corrective, and rehabilitative services. All parents must have continuous opportunities to learn about and improve parenting skills. Community agencies must provide on-going and widely publicized programs. Young people must have instruction in the area of children's psychological and physical needs in order to prepare themselves for responsible parenting.
• Provision of on-going support and educational services to parents adopting or providing foster care for children with special needs. We encourage Social Services Departments to use Preventive Services monies and resources in order to prevent the disruption of families with special needs children.
• Higher standards for the selection of protective services workers and increased training requirements. Continuing education must be provided concerning adoptive and foster families and the behaviors presented by some adoptive and foster children. Workers must be required to include in their investigations all historical information on the child as well as testimony from knowledgeable therapists, educators, and medical resources.
• Appropriate legislation and/or regulations to assure the above.

Note: Permission to reprint this statement is granted. Please credit New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.

For further information see: Child Abuse and Neglect Resources

 

NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
410 East Upland Road • Ithaca, NY 14850
607-272-0034 • office@nysccc.org
11/09/2006