Importance of Child Care – Types of Child Care

In certain environments, children are alienated from their families and placed in the care of the local authorities. Children live either with foster parents, in special children’s homes, or very occasionally, in suburban nurseries. The distance of time that children stay in child care depends on the purpose of being alienated from their families.

In specific environments, children are alienated from their families and placed in the care of the local authorities. There are numerous reasons for this, which I won’t go into here. But the fact is that children in these circumstances can suffer from a significant degree of neglect and abuse. They can also suffer from substantial changes in their environment as they are moved from one foster placement to another.

Why have Children been Taken into care?

Many reasons why children take into child care. Possible reasons the parent or guardian is ill and there no one to look after the child at home this is the commonest single reason. The child has been neglected or ill-treated and beyond the control of the parents.

Two-way Children Take in Care

Voluntary care is when the parents decide for their child to be placed into care. They realize it is the best thing to do for the child in the environment.

Compulsory care is when a court compels parents to hand over their child to the care of the local authority.

Fostering Children Care

Fostering child care in preparation for children to live in other people’s homes. It is on the understanding that the children will return to their own homes to live as soon as possible. The foster parents are paid a payment for food, clothing, and general care, but they do not have any legal rights over the children.

Children stay with foster parents for variable amounts of time. It may be only for a few weeks while the mother is in the hospital or it may be for many months or even years. When the children with foster parents for a long time they can become much involved in the family. It may then be hard for them to the part when the time comes for the children to return to their own homes.

Adoption of Child Care

Adoption of childcare is a legal method by which adults become parents to children not born to them. The adoptive parents give full legal rights over the child. Whom they expected to support completely. The natural parents give up all rights to the child.

Children are adopted for a number of causes. Some are adopted by couples who are unable to have children of their own. Others are adopted by grandparents or other relatives if both the parents die. In other cases, a mother may marry a new husband and they jointly adopt her child so that all the family shares the same surname. Foster parents can apply to adopt a child whom they have fostered for five years or more.

People who adopt must be over 25 years of age, and 21 years older than the child. Adoption orders are usually granted jointly to married couples. Although in some cases a single person may be acceptable to adopt.

Adoption Societies for Child Care

When a childless couple requests to adopt, it is usual for them to do so through an adoption society. The number of different societies and they each have their own particular rules and regulations. So, if one society is unable to help the couple, then another might. But there are usually long waiting lists these days because rarer unwanted babies have been born since abortion became more readily available. Also, single mothers are now tending to keep their babies.

How Adoption Takes Place

The couple who wish to adopt is interviewed by the adoption society. To make sure that they are healthy happy, have a stable marriage, and can manage financially. To ensure that they really want to adopt a child.

When a suitable child becomes available he lives with the adoptive parents for a probationary period of three months. A social worker from the adoption society visits the home from time to time to make sure the agreement is working well. The probationary period cannot start until the child is 6 weeks old. This is to give the natural mother time to be sure of her decision to part with her child. During the probationary period, the child does not legally belong to the adoptive parents, and the natural parents can claim him back.

If the probationary period has been reasonable, the adoption can then be made legal. This usually does a juvenile or county court. From that moment, the child belongs to the adoptive parents. The natural parents no longer have any claim to the child. Adopted children are allowed, if they wish, to see their full birth certificates when they reach the age of 18 years. They may then apply to make contact with their natural parents. This is not always possible, for example, the natural parents may refuse to have any contact, or their whereabouts may be unknown.