SOS Children’s Villages Florida Therapist, Krista Vecchione, who sees our children on
site for their therapy sessions shares some insight into what our children experience while in foster care. Mental health therapy is administered to all children and is a critical
component for their overall well-being, healing, and ability to receive other services allowing them to be their brilliant best!
NORMALIZATION
Prior to 2014 when the “Normalization Law” was passed, children were required to complete a form to be submitted to their Case Manager for something as simple as going to a movie with friends. Additionally, the parents overseeing the transportation were required to provide identification and proof of insurance. Very few children wanted to go through this process as it caused embarrassment.
With current normalized approaches to foster care, children are no longer subject to stringent regulations, and if they are performing well academically and there are no significant behavioral issues, foster parents make these types of decisions for children in their care.
STIGMATIZATION
Despite progress made over the years relating to children in foster care, 90% of our children still do not share the fact that they are in foster care, even with their closest friends. Harboring this information leads to anxiety and depression which is linked to guilt, sadness, and loneliness due to the falsehoods they create to protect themselves and maintain their secret.
Having the truth of living in foster care exposed is one of the worst things that can happen to a child as they have already been through so much before being removed from their home and exposure can serve as a tipping point. Entering foster care is not simply a one-time experience – it is often connected to a series of life experiences which culminate once they enter care.
SOS CASE STUDY
Prior to coming to SOS, one of our younger teen girls, while living with her parents was free to come and go at her will as she lacked parental supervision. She often hung out with her friends after school and spent weekends away from her family. This is quite common with children living in compromised home environments as it temporarily removes them from a potentially toxic situation and they gravitate towards better family-oriented settings with nurturing mothers.
At thirteen years old she was in the prime of her social growth and development but no longer had the flexibility she had become accustomed to. This resulted in her creating stories denouncing the reality of her circumstance. This impacted on her ability to develop close friendships and caused her to be constantly on guard to protect her secret of living in foster care from others.
As one can imagine, maintaining and having to live a lie is a tremendous burden. There is no real solution to this problem, and it is addressed through mental health therapy. We work to generate awareness about those with lived experience in foster care with the hope that one day that as a society there will be continued movement towards understanding, acceptance, removal of stigmatization, and normalization in this area. For now, if everyone shares information like this with others including their own children, we will be one step closer to reaching our goal.
