Promoting The Healthy Development Of Children In Foster Care
Parenting a child with health problems can drain the emotional,
financial and physical resources of even the most stable
families. Foster children with chronic illness and disability
often live in households where their caregivers must cope daily
with substance abuse, mental illness and poverty. Without
appropriate services and family support, the presence of medical
conditions or disability can compound the stress already in the
lives of these parents, making it more difficult to manage the
daily challenges of parenting and increasing the risk of family
dissolution or failed placement. To achieve permanency, children
in foster care and their families need services at the earliest
possible juncture to enhance the child's healthy development and
to support caregivers in their parenting efforts. Understanding
the connection between healthy development and permanency is
critical because children in foster care are at particular risk
for a number of chr