Article Review based on Behavioral Problems Following Reunification of Children in Long Term Foster Care

Article Review based on Behavioral Problems Following Reunification of Children in Long Term Foster Care

The Rationale for Article Selection

This article was chosen because it is significant in helping someone get to understand the challenges of behavior that occur when children return home after long-term foster care.  This group of youngsters is sometimes disregarded, and I believe it is critical to comprehend the difficulties they may encounter.

Brief Article Description

The author believes that reunification programs which are only open to families that have current foster care children may not be enough. They may need additional services after the reunification process is complete. This research methodology was conducted using a retrospective chart review of clinical records. The sample included 117 children who were rejoined back into the hypothesis, which was validated by the research findings. According to the author, family reunification treatment should be expanded to include families that are currently in foster care but lack access to post-reunification programs. If we don't help children in foster care before, during, and after they leave, we'll miss out on the chance to recognize and manage any behavioral issues they may have. Interventions that are limited to families with children in foster care, according to the author, may be insufficient. Families should also receive services after they are reunited. The ability to detect and deal with behavioral difficulties in one of society's most vulnerable age groups is jeopardized if families are not assisted beforehand, during, and after foster care.

Article Critique

The study’s findings are valid, and the data support the conclusions drawn by the author. The longitudinal design of this research is a significant advantage, as it allows for the tracking of children's behavioral issues across time in relation to their family risks and difficulties after foster care. However, the sample size is limited, which may not represent the overall population of foster children. The current study, like others before it, suffers from several limitations. In the first part the article research was effective because it was able to draw sound conclusions about the essential of fostering care on behavioral disorder as it helps to give comparison between those children who were in care and those who were not. Nonetheless, the research is well-designed because it was able to provide helpful information on the behavioral challenges that might be experienced by children that were separated from with their parents and taken to foster care.

The author hypothesizes that behavioral problems following reunification are associated with pre-existing family risks and problems. The study design includes a longitudinal examination of 98 children in foster care who were reunited with their families. The data was collected through interviews with caregivers, child welfare workers, teachers, and case files. The findings showed that most children experienced behavioral problems following reunification and that these problems were associated with pre-existing family risks and problems.

The conclusions drawn by the author are valid and tie back into the hypothesis. It has been indicated that the research focused was on showing reunion treatments targeted only section of families who had children in foster which seem to have limited the research finding effective. The highest number of children in the research experienced substantial behavioral difficulties after reunification, according to the findings. The author claims that if people do not help families before, during, and after foster care, then they will lose the chance to help behavioral issues in one of the most susceptible groups of children in our society. The research strengths include the use of clinical records to obtain data and the large sample size. However, one limitation is that this was a retrospective study and relied on self-reported data from parents. To identify behavior difficulties in children, future studies should prospectively follow families during, before, and after foster care. 

Reference

Bellamy, J. L. (2008). Behavioral problems following reunification of children in long-term foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(2), 216-228.