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NTF incorporates research-proven methodologies and routinely engages in third-party evaluations of our programs and services Our evidence-based practices include: |
We invite you to review their reports:
NTF Prgram Evaluation University of Georgia UCF program evaluation
Neighbor to Family Evaluation Report Final-as Amended 4-03
Overview Neighbor To Family outcomes
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Children in foster care have more challenging needs than ever before. They are (3) three to (6) six times more likely to have emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems than their peers. The severity of the presenting problems has also increased. It is estimated that 30% of the children in foster care have marked or severe emotional problems, 58% have serious health problems, (Florida Foster Care Recruitment and Retention: Perspective of Stakeholders, 2000) and an estimated 67% of the children have siblings (Barbell, 1995). According to Glen & Hall (2003), children who have suffered from abuse are less likely to form secure attachments. By some estimates, almost 80% of abused or neglected children display signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), compared to an estimated 1% of all other children.
Characteristics of children diagnosed with RAD include high levels of aggressive behaviors, lack of empathy, inability to form loving relationships which may result in long term emotional, mental, and physical effects. When foster parents are left at their own devices, they will likely become frustrated, leading to placement disruption, and a future of the child bouncing from foster family to foster family. That outcome reinforces the child's inability to form healthy long term relationships.
Prevalence
The number of children coming into foster care has increased by 90% since 1986. During the same time the number of foster families available to care for them has decreased by 3% (Florida Foster Care Recruitment and Retention: Perspective of Stakeholders, 2000). The result, a system ill-prepared to meet the challenges, which has had a staggering impact on child safety and well-being. It has been reported that as many as 7,500 children have been "tortured under what is technically government protection" (Roche, p. 1, 2000).
There is even a bleaker outlook for children who have siblings, because they have the added trauma of the separation and loss from their siblings. Some studies estimate as high as 70-85% are placed in separate homes (Barbell, 1995); many will never to be reunited. The sibling bond is one that is unique; it may be the longest lasting relationship in a lifetime, longer than with a parent, spouse, or even your own children (Barbell, 1995). Although the issue has not been adequately studied and is under reported, there are strong indicators that siblings who are placed together experience higher rates of stability, a decreased length of stay in foster care, and suffer less trauma. The likelihood that separated siblings will be reunited when they leave the foster care system or are adopted is even more unlikely. In the United States, there are more brothers and sisters searching for one another than those who are searching for their birth parents (Barbell, 1995).
