Separation of Siblings in the Foster System
I intend to explore the issues on the best interest standard. What is the best interest of the child in these situations? Is it to be adopted by a loving family or be kept together with their other family? I feel this is a very difficult question to answer. Also is there a compromise to be made?
I think the sources that will be most beneficial are memoirs, personal stories, an foster system blog if they faced this situation, interview with someone who was separated from their siblings, essays, and journal articles. I believe this topic will be in many of stories of people who were in the foster system, but it probably not the main focus of the piece. I think it will be harder to find some academic sources on this topic and would open any help in finding these sources.
On a scale of 1-10, my level is around a 8 to write a paper on this topic. I think the only drawback would be not finding enough information on the topic which would lead me to switch.
I would take any suggestions on the topic especially if your book review book had a detailed part of the effect of being separated from their siblings. Also I would take suggestions if you feel there is some part of the issue I could narrow down on or maybe broaden my search.
Sarah B.
Graded Blog Response 8
ReplyDeleteI think this is an important topic to consider -- during class we haven't had the opportunity to discuss this issue of separating siblings through adoption. I think you seem to have a good handle on how to search for information regarding this issue. I agree that the most beneficial sources would be personal accounts and memoirs dealing with this issue. I would think it would be good to look for sources that look at the social worker side of the decision to split up a sibling pair. They might be able to explain their reasoning and why this decision gets made, especially after the children have been in the foster care system for a while.
I like the question you brought up about which is more important keeping a family together even if the circumstances aren’t ideal or separating the siblings by placing them in adoptive families. Both issues will have pros and cons and you could possibly look at the which pros would be greater for the children’s well-being and which cons would be more detrimental to the children’s well-being.
I think you have a good start here and having a possibility for a great paper through looking into and researching this issue.
-BF
Sarah, I really like your topic, especially since the book I read for my book review sort of dealt with this topic although not as much as it could have. I think that you will probably be able to find some academic sources, although perhaps not a ton but my guess is that at least a couple people have studied and written about the topic. I would also suggest talking to social workers that work in the foster care system and perhaps even some adoption agencies (some of them, according to my understanding, do work out of the foster care system). I'm not 100% sure if the Children's Home in Saint Cloud works with adoption at all or if it is more for troubled kids with families but you could check with them too for some information about siblings in their care. I know the children in my book were adopted out of a Children's Home and were adopted to different families.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the pros and cons of keeping children in their families versus adopting them or placing them in foster care will be an interesting but probably kind of difficult thing to look at. Good luck with your final paper! I'm looking at writing about the foster care system as well so I think your topic sounds cool too!
Merideth E.
^That is my Graded Reply as well. I forgot to write that part!
DeleteMerideth