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Today, too many Americans face futures limited by substance use, which threatens health, safety, and academic performance. Substance use disorders are linked to crime, motor vehicle crashes, and fatalities. This month, we recognize substance abuse … Read more on Hudson Valley Press

Local Coalition Receives 5000 Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Grant
The Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria (SAPCA) was awarded a grant in the amount of $ 625,000 by the Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) to continue to involve and engage the local community to prevent substance use … Read more on Alexandrianews.org

Free drug take-back can prevent abuse, theft
Authorities said the purpose of the drug take-back program is to prevent pill abuse and theft by giving people an opportunity to safely dispose of potentially dangerous medications, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. The … Read more on Stockton Record

COMMENTARY: DEA is stopping drug flow
The societal costs of drug abuse and addiction in the U.S. far outweigh the price we pay for law enforcement and would eliminate any additional tax revenue. For example, about 75 percent of children in foster care are placed there because of parental … Read more on Monitor

Turkish state to cover alcohol, drug addiction treatment expenses
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Teens claim they were used as fake rehab clients
She did not abuse drugs. But when she was a teenager in foster care, several times a month, she would board a van at her group home and go to rehab. Byers couldn't figure out why she had to take drug tests and sit in group therapy sessions on addiction …
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BNN Pushing for Fairer Treatment of Drug Addicts
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Teens claim they were used as fake rehab clients
She did not abuse drugs. But when she was a teenager in foster care, several times a month, she would board a van at her group home and go to rehab. Byers couldn't figure out why she had to take drug tests and sit in group therapy sessions on addiction …
Read more on CNN

With Lax Oversight, Fraud Flourishes in California's Drug Rehab Clinics
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Utah Drug Addiction Treatment Center Announces Uncovery Campaign
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Teens claim they were used as fake rehab clients
She did not abuse drugs. But when she was a teenager in foster care, several times a month, she would board a van at her group home and go to rehab. Byers couldn't figure out why she had to take drug tests and sit in group therapy sessions on addiction …
Read more on CNN

DRUG REHAB: Fraud thrives, failures abound in clinics
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With Lax Oversight, Fraud Flourishes in California's Drug Rehab Clinics
In the past, the agency delegated the rehab program to the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs but remained involved in oversight. It took direct control last July. The state certifies the clinics while counties handle the money and shoulder …
Read more on KQED (blog)

Teens claim they were used as fake rehab clients
She did not abuse drugs. But when she was a teenager in foster care, several times a month, she would board a van at her group home and go to rehab. Byers couldn't figure out why she had to take drug tests and sit in group therapy sessions on addiction …
Read more on CNN

Zoners agree to delay consideration of proposed Atiyeh drug and alcohol rehab …
A confrontation between developer Abe Atiyeh and residents who oppose his plan to put a rehab center in their Allentown neighborhood was put on hold Monday night. Atiyeh, through his attorney, William Malkames, asked Allentown Zoning Hearing Board …
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16 California Drug And Alcohol Rehab Centers Suspended After Abuse And …
Following tips from the media and public, investigators from the state Department of Health Care Services raided 22 drug and alcohol rehab facilities in California, prompting them to suspend 16 of the treatment centers on July 18. (Photo : Flickr, West …
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Question by Marie Antoinette: Why is there a higher rate of child abuse in foster homes than in the general population?
Children in foster care experience high rates of child abuse, emotional deprivation, and physical neglect. In one study in the United Kingdom “foster children were 7–8 times, and children in residential care 6 times more likely to be assessed by a pediatrician for abuse than a child in the general population”.[14] One study by Johns Hopkins University found that the rate of sexual abuse within the foster-care system is more than four times as high as in the general population; in group homes, the rate of sexual abuse is more than 28 times that of the general population.[15][16] An Indiana study found three times more physical abuse and twice the rate of sexual abuse in foster homes than in the general population.[16] A study of foster children in Oregon and Washington State found that nearly one third reported being abused by a foster parent or another adult in a foster home.[17] These statistics do not speak to the situation these children are coming from, but it does show the very large problem of child-on-child sexual abuse within the system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_care#Abuse_and_negligence

Best answer:

Answer by frockney
First, the children who are in care sometimes come from families where they themselves may have been subjected to some form of bad treatment ranging from being left to their own devices when the parents (or single mom) is out or being emotionally or physically abuse or all of this at once.

This is not to say that all kids removed are justly removed.

Furthermore, the people doing foster care are people who want to adopt but cannot afford the huge sums asked for by agencies (starting from $ 30,000). They may have a lower level of education. They may be considering the child as the “third best option” after failing to conceive naturally and not having the money to adopt a womb-web baby from an agency.

However, this is not to say that they are not decent people.

Also psychology scholars have found that there is an instintive, physical “safety catch” that stops natural parents from hurting their offspring and having sex with them. Admitedly, this “safery catch” does not function with every one, but it is just not present in non-blood related foster parents.

So the combination of these three factors means that kids in care end up falling from the frying pan into the fire.

In the 60’s, children’s homes fell into (well deserved!) disrepute. Now, there are some new solutions where these institutions are better structured, better staffed, where child psychology is better understood. Children who have problems should not go to problem families.

All this is meant to save money. Money would be better saved on proper, and timely, sex education and free contraception.

@Sammy Gabbie:
I would never take on one or more foster kids. I help these kids by donating to institutions who employ fully qualified staff. I am not qualified to deal with temperamental children who right or wrong have been separated from their parents.

I prefer to concentrate on my lovely, pretty, intelligent daughters. Natural children also need looking after, so they don’t become foster kids in the first place.

@angel face
This question was posted in US, so what I wrote fits. Also, in UK, the SS is very heavy-handed and take kids away for no reason whatsoever, they snatch kids at birth without giving mothers the possibility to prove their parenting skills, they take children into care on simple hearsay.

I would NEVER be complicit in SS crimes.

@Sammy Gabbie AGAIN
You will insist on invariably getting the wrong end of the stick. There is none more deaf than those who refuse to hear.
Anyway, in case you want a bit of bedtime-reading in your mobile home, I’ve selected some decent piece of research for you:
http://fixcas.com/scholar/impact.pdf

Add your own answer in the comments!