Why Every Foster Child Needs Trauma Treatment

More than 250,000 children and adolescents enter the foster care system nationwide annually.

Each child has a unique story; there are many roads that lead a child to foster care.

A foster child can be of any age, from birth to 17 years old. They are typically removed from their home of origin for one or more of four primary reasons: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. According to various studies, 90% of foster children have experienced trauma. 

With little or no notice, foster children are removed from the only home they have ever known and placed in a stranger’s care, sometimes with nothing more than the clothes on their back. Sometimes they are separated from their siblings, extended family, and other support systems, and are left with no way to contact them. 

Even a short-term stay in foster care can leave an emotional scar. Studies show that foster children can become depressed, anti-social, violent, and prone to substance abuse. 

Whether the foster care is short or long term, the impacts can be lifelong. While foster care can be literally life-saving, it is almost always a traumatic process. 

The common factor is a young person who doesn’t have any control of a situation. That powerlessness creates a maelstrom of emotions in foster kids. They often:

  • Blame themselves for the removal

  • Wish to return to their parents, even if they were abusive

  • Feel unwanted and rejected by life

  • Are anxious because they may be moved to multiple homes over time

  • Cannot plan their future.

Warning Signs for Foster Children Experiencing Stress

Foster children often have trust issues with their adult caretakers. Being vulnerable is scary, and asking for help is a sign of weakness that can have dangerous repercussions.

If the child doesn’t want to communicate overtly, the caretaker will need to watch for behaviors that suggest their charge is reacting to trauma. Children in distress can display:

  • Acting out in school

  • Anxiety or nervousness

  • Avoidance of activities they enjoy 

  • Changes in eating or sleeping patterns

  • Constantly asking questions such as: What if..? Is someone going to die? Are you coming back?

  • Excessive worry, anxiety, or sadness

  • Fear of being alone

  • Fear of making minor mistakes

  • Frequent urination

  • Headaches, body pains, skin rashes 

  • Impulsive or risky behavior

  • Returning to behaviors they have outgrown 

  • Saying "I can't do it" without a reason

  • Strong startle response

  • Suddenly avoiding all social interaction

  • Suddenly wetting the bed

  • Trouble falling asleep

  • Withdrawal or isolation

Even if you don’t see all of these warning signs, you can bet that a foster child is quietly experiencing stress.

Nationally, many foster kids need trauma treatment, but in New Mexico the need is especially acute.

Albuquerque’s Foster Kids Tragedy

The need is particularly acute in this area. While the trauma that foster care brings is a national tragedy, the Albuquerque “short stay” foster care story is more than eight times worse than the national average. 

Why New Mexico’s foster care short stay numbers are so high is something we recommend you read about. We recommend this excellent article The Hidden Trauma of “Short Stays” in Foster Care, from The Marshall Project, for more information.

Unlike many other jurisdictions where a judge is needed to place a child into foster care, in New Mexico police officers can remove children from their parents for 48 hours based on their own judgment and a fairly fixed set of criteria. In some cases of domestic abuse, even if the abuser is arrested, the police may remove the children. They can remove children if they don’t think there is enough food in the fridge. That makes poverty a risk factor for losing your children, even if they are happy and healthy. 

Some say that this policy looks worse on paper than it is in real life because New Mexico records each short-term case where other jurisdictions do not. Also, recent police training and other changes have created faster turnaround in the number of short stays. 

Fluctuations in numbers and reporting notwithstanding, there are still big repercussions of even short-term foster care. Complicating matters further, children can be moved to multiple homes. Thirty percent of kids who have been in multiple foster homes experience PTSD, compared to 8% of their same-aged peers.

The stress of staying in foster care impacts a child’s physical health (obesity, cardiovascular disease, COPD, diabetes, depression, anxiety, suicidality, and behavior issues). Cognitive and learning declines can show up as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, mood disorder, anxiety, substance abuse, attachment difficulties, reactive attachment disorder, academic underachievement, involvement in the criminal justice system, and conduct disorders.

If their trauma is left untreated, foster children are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system. According to various studies:

  • Over 70% of all California state penitentiary inmates spent time in the foster care system. 

  • Thirty to 40% of foster children have been arrested since they exited foster care. 

  • Over 25% of former foster kids have spent at least one night in jail and over 15% have been convicted of a crime. This compares with only 3.2 percent of the general population who were on probation, in jail, or on parole in 2005. 

Adoption is only partially a happy ending

In foster care adoptions where the child is very young and doesn’t remember disruption and abuse, and the foster care family is award-winning in their love, there is still sometimes trauma. 

Some children may feel what is called “relinquishment trauma” and have low self-esteem because their “real parents” put them into foster care. When this self-loathing becomes part of their identity, they need the help of a trained trauma specialist to help the former foster child (no matter their age).

How to Get New Mexico Foster Kids The Trauma Treatment They Need

Given all these factors, it is almost certain that every foster child needs what’s called Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). A trained trauma treatment therapist can conduct an assessment and give the foster child the treatment and intervention that they need. State resources are available. 

In New Mexico, each child who is in foster care is enrolled by New Mexico’s Children, Youth, and Families Department into Medicaid. This will help pay for the trauma treatment the foster child requires. Work with the foster child’s case officer to see what paperwork you need to start the healing process. 

At TTC, we provide services that address trauma through multiple avenues: behavioral health treatments, biophysical therapies, group therapies and classes, and core community support services. By addressing each individual’s needs from multiple perspectives, we can enhance the positive outcome for clients. 

Trauma Treatment Center is ready to help.

National Resources For Foster & Adoptive Parents

If you are looking for national resources, iFoster is a national nonprofit with over 60,000 members nationwide serving over 250,000 children in care and transition-age youth every year. Below are PDFs and other resources from AdoptUsKids.org: