Fostering is Important

 

I just found out I got first place in my school's persuasive essay contest here's my essay     

 Fostering is Important

                   Everyone should consider fostering.  It is important to this world and to people.  It is helpful to the foster children and their parents.  There is a humongous need for foster families because there are so many kids that need a loving, caring family. Becoming a foster family has many rewards.  It also has its challenges but the rewards are much greater.

                     

Foster care helps children because they get to be in a loving, caring family.  It helps the parent by getting them on the right track and having them do what they need to do to be safe parents.  It helps connect the parents to services such as the Moms Program or the Dads Program.  If the parents get on the right track faster it will help them get their kids back sooner.  It is like pushing them to be a better parent.  If the parents do not become a better parent before a year is over, that means the kids are placed permanently somewhere.  Sometimes it is your house they stay in permanently.

There is a gigantic need for foster care.  In 2014, 730 kids spent at least one day  in foster care in Jackson County; there were only 200 foster homes .  In Oregon there were 11,443 kids in foster care at least a day and only 4,006 foster homes (2014 Child Welfare Data Book).  The number of foster children is increasing every year (AFCARS Report, 2015).  There are so many loving caring families out there that aren’t helping with fostering. We need everyone’s help to take care of these children.

There are many rewards to foster care and they are great ones.  You learn to love more and be more affectionate.  You get more siblings to play and grow with.  You may also get a little brother that is cute like I did.  You learn patience and compassion.  You also may learn rules faster than you did before because you’re watching other kids learn them along with you.  You have more people around you who love you and play with you.

Yes, there are challenges in becoming a foster family.  Maybe you were expecting it to be like school where everybody knows the rules.  Well, it isn’t always what you think. Different expectations are pretty stressful.  Getting along with people you don’t know very well is a challenge.  The kids are used to a different lifestyle and they may be a little weirded out when they get there.  Your boundaries are things you have to go over first thing or the kids may get into your things whether you’re there or not.  Sometimes hearing stories about what my sister did before she was with us makes me crazy. When she tells us those stories I sort of want to strangle her (not really) because I think she’s lying.  Some of my sister’s stories just feel fake like fairytales.  However, you have to remember that good is always better than bad!

There are many reasons why everyone should consider fostering.  Even though it has challenges it is still quite fun especially when you get to know the kids.  Think how happy they will be in your home and how happy you will be to add to your family.  Then think about how happy all the other kids could be if everyone considered fostering.  It helps everyone; it even helps the world.

Work Cited

2014 Child Welfare Data Book. Publication. June 2015ed. Salem: Office of Business intelligence DHS 2015. Print.

The AFCARS Report. Publication. July 2015 ed. No 22. Children’s Bureau U.S. DHS. print.