Drastic Changes in Miami’s Youth

Drastic Changes in Miami’s Youth

Here in Florida, there are 3,400 children in foster care that would be placed in stable and loving adoptive homes right now if parents came forward, (Simon, 2002). Three thousand four- hundred was the population in 2002; however the population of foster children has drastically increased. There are such a large number of children who are removed from there parents custody and place into foster homes due to the fact that parents neglect their children, abused their children physically and sexually and in other cases children are placed into foster care when the child has behavioral issues. It is very rare that a child is removed from their parent’s home when the child is a behavioral issue. The most recent figures indicated that 879,000 children were victim of abuse and neglect in the year of 2003. These children were taken from their parent’s custody and placed into a secure foster home. 879,000 of these 62% were neglected, 19.3% were physically abused, and 10.1% were sexually abused (Fong & Smith, 2003). Unless parents become more educated with parenting skills and more concerned with how child abuse can affect a their child’s life the population of foster care will continue to drastically increase.

There have been so many definitions as to what a foster child actually is, there are few that say unwanted child or children who have been neglected buy their parents. Foster care, generally, care of children on a fulltime basis by others than their own parents. Also known as boarding- home care is proposed to offer a helpful family environment to children whose birth parents cannot raise them because of parents’ physical or mental illness, the child’s behavioral difficulties, or issues within the family environment (Costa & Nelson, 47). As for foster care it is basically for unwanted children whom are either physically abused or mistreated in another way by their natural parents. I have several relatives that are foster parents and I have witnessed foster children whom have been physically abused by their birth parents, starving children, and or mistreated by their parents with my family and close friends. This leads me to the case of Little Benjamin Taylor who was abused in his household.

One afternoon a social worker called my aunt and informed my aunt that she would be receiving an abused child in approximately four hours. Four hours later she arrived to my aunt’s house with a one year old boy by the name of Benjamin, but people identified him as Benny. The social worker clarified that he was abused and how he was totally terrified from the abusive event that took place. Little Benny was so small and the social worker enlightened my aunt that he was not healthy since his birth mom did not feed him on a daily bases. There some times when Benny’s sisters, brothers, and him were not being feed daily, Benny’s mother neglected his sisters, brother and him. The social worker stated that “neglect” means a failure to provide, nor refusal to provide when financially able, by those legally responsible for the care maintenance of the child; the proper or necessary support; education, as a required by law; or medical, surgical, or any other care necessary for the child’s well- being (Costa & Nelson, 21). She then added that a mother such as Benny’s mother wouldn’t be getting back custody for a while with her inappropriate behaviors towards her own children.

I over heard the social worker and my aunt discussing the child’s situation I became curious as to what actually happened to Benny so I looked through my aunt’s files and I found statements, police reports and other personal information about Benny.. He was the first foster child that my aunt took into her home as a foster parent so it was quite shocking to me that a parent could commit such a crime to her own flesh and blood that she birth . I was more curious as to what happened to Benny after over hearing the emotional situation that Benny was in. The first shocking news that I established was that Benny’s mother have not only Benny, but five other children besides Benny and all of them was placed under custody. I discovered how he was abused; he was taken from his home because his mother discharged steaming hot water down his throat and on numerous parts of his body. The files gave me detailed information about why he was removed from his mother’s custody, police reports, and other statements about Benny’s physical abuse incident. In the reports it stated that he was left with scares from the hot water that was put on little Benjamin’s body. When police and the Department of Children family services did a close investigation they discovered that she had eight children and all eight were mistreated on a everyday bases, however she hid the way she mistreated