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How To Recognize Hidden Abuse In Foster Children

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The foster care system in America has struggled with financial and moral maintenance for many years now. Every year thousands of children are placed into foster care for a temporary or permanent time period, and most of them are removed from their biological parents because of neglect or abuse. The country has a responsibility to protect each child in foster care and to make sure their place of residence is free from danger. However, some foster parents suffer from severe mental illness, are registered sex offenders or criminals, or generally do not promote safe living conditions. Here are some hidden signs of abuse in foster children that you should be aware of:

  • Emotional abuse in the child: sudden changes in behavior or school performance, severe learning problems or difficulty concentrating, always watchful and paranoid, withdrawn or passive, doesn’t want to go home or avoids a certain person or family member
  • Physical abuse in the child: unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones or black eyes, absences from school, seems frightened of his or her foster parents, shrinks (physically and emotionally) at the approach of adults, abuses animals or pets, or reports an injury by a parent or another adult
  • Signs of neglect: frequently absent from school, consistently dirty, lacks weather-appropriate clothes, abuses alcohol or drugs

Signs from The Foster Parent

It’s also important to watch the foster parent’s behavior; if the signs of abuse are very obscure in the child, it might be easier to be watchful of the parent. Look to see if the parent: blames the child for everything, sees the child as bad, worthless and burdensome, demands an impossible level of physical or academic performance, generally shows no concern for the child, or also abuses alcohol and drugs.

If you suspect that a foster care child in Pasadena is suffering from abuse or neglect, contact our foster care abuse attorney at the Law Offices of Andrew Ritholz.

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