African American Youths in Foster Care - Research Proposal Example

One main reason why this is so is the complex nature of the US foster care system. From the AFCARS FY 2013 report, it is possible to surmise that reunification with parents or primary guardian remains the primary goal of the US foster care system (AFCARS, 2013). This makes it difficult for researchers to assess extensively long-term psychological effects resulting from being in the foster care system. There is a need to understand the psychological long-term effects of foster care, as it is becoming apparent that more youth (children older than 15 years) are finding themselves “aging out” or remaining in the system for a long duration.

 Honomichl & Brooks (2010) infer that aged out youth in the foster care system are a vulnerable population likely to suffer from behavioral problems. In fact, they state that children subjected to multiple placements and a lengthy stay in the foster care system are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior, which in turn exposes them to the Criminal Justice system (Honomichl & Brooks, 2010). The probability increases for African American youth, as they belong to a minority population exposed to more challenges.

A myriad of factors contributes to the extended placement of youth in the foster care system. Lack of a clearly stated policy that set a limit on the duration a child can stay in the foster care system. Age also plays a pivotal role in the extension of a child’s stay in the system whereby the older a child is at the time of placement, the lesser his or her chances of getting out of the system. Ethnicity represents another factor, whereby African American children are more likely not to leave the foster care system despite having a higher probability of accessing kinship placement.