Why are children in care being abused?

With a system which is overworked, underfunded and constantly overwhelmed, sometimes things slip through the cracks.

This is not good enough. It’s not acceptable.

Children in foster care are vulnerable.

They’ve faced difficulties in their life.

The system is so fraught with children who need homes, and there simply aren’t enough good parents willing to take them in.

A State run system which doesn’t enforce the right checks and procedures on foster parents enables potential abusers to slip through the cracks.

The State doesn’t have the resources or the luxury of running the correct checks to filter out all potential foster parents who are a risk to the children.

And if the State cannot afford to be as stringent as possible when allowing people to become foster parents, how can they afford to relocate children who’ve been abused by their current foster parents?

The system needs to be changed. This much is clear.

Youth are sexually abused in group homes by staff but mostly by other pubescent male residents; children and youth are molested by foster fathers and their older male children still living at home.

This is despite better screening practices.

Foster children have historically been regarded as unwanted, ‘throw away’ children.

Predators will take the opportunity to seek sexual gratification when they think they won’t get caught.

Foster children aren’t trusted and seen as untruthful because of their background and challenging behaviours – all a result of the trauma which caused them to enter into the OOHC system in the first place. This presents the perfect opportunity for predators and older children seeking sexual experimentation.

Foster children who do speak out about any abuse to their social worker can face extreme difficulties to be relocated – if they’re believed at all.

It’s time the government take responsibility for their actions. They allowed hundreds of foster children to be abused by irresponsible and cruel foster parents. If you were abused as a child by a foster parent add your name to Peter’s list. We are going to make the government hear our voices.