Understanding the Foster Care System: Why Children End Up There and What My Angel Alert Band Can Do To Help
Children in foster care face unique challenges, including lack of access to vital health information due to frequent relocations. My Angel Alert Band ensures foster children always carry their medical data with them, enabling quick, accurate care. Whether it's allergies, medication, or invisible conditions, MAAB safeguards their health, wherever life takes them.
What is the Foster Care System and Why Do Children End up There?
Foster care is a temporary, state-monitored arrangement whereby children are provided with care when their biological parents are unable to care for them. Across the US and indeed worldwide, many children and teens are placed into the foster care system annually through no fault of their own. There are currently over 400,000 children within the foster care system ranging from infants all the way up to 21 year olds in some states. Of these, approximately 117,000 are presently waiting to be adopted.
Common threads that lead children into care often include:
Abuse
Sadly, physical abuse is one of the leading causes of children being placed in foster care. This is in part due its prevalence but also the physical markers like bruises and cuts which alert authorities to its occurrence. Other types of abuse include sexual, emotional and substance abuse.
Neglect
In some cases, children have their basic human needs (such as access to food, water, shelter and clothing) neglected by their parents, guardian or caretaker. In other cases, they may experience emotional neglect whereby their caregiver repeatedly disregards their responsibility to tender to their emotional needs.
Asylum Seekers
Asylum is a turbulent process by nature; at times children may become separated from their caregiver and need temporary or permanent care from the foster system.
Unstable/Dysfunctional Families
Where a child’s needs are consistently not being met by their parents or caregivers, due to dysfunction in the home (caused by substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health issues etc), they may be placed into foster care for their own safety.
Incarceration
Care may be required in cases where parents are placed in jail and nobody is left to care for the child.
Challenges Faced by Children in Foster Care
Whilst the foster system provides essential support for vulnerable children, it presents a unique set of challenges.
Children in the foster care system may experience struggle with:
- Missing their biological families
- Forming connections with those around them (foster parents, friends, peers etc)
- Loneliness and isolation
- Mental health problems
How Frequent Moves Affect Children’s Health
One of the most significant challenges for children in foster care is frequent relocation. Children frequently move between different parts of the foster care system for a multitude of reasons such as, being adopted, reuniting with their families, or a given placement not being able to take care of them any more. Even the best planned moves can be damaging for children, however they are often inevitable.
An extremely alarming consequence of these frequent moves is that foster children often do not reliably have access to their health information. Whilst moving between placements, foster children can easily end up far from their birth place and their families making it difficult to keep track of their medical history. Oftentimes, there is poor information sharing between health care systems. Furthermore, for a child living with their biological families the responsibility for tracking their medical information is generally shared between parents and health care authorities. Conversely, for children in foster care this responsibility is split between a number of parties including foster cares, pediatricians and teachers.
It does not need to be said that children not having access to their health data is a huge problem. Without reliable access to health information, doctors will not have the complete picture that they need to provide effective, accurate treatment.
My Angel Alert Band as a Portable Medical Record
For children living in the foster care system, a medical IC bracelet from MAAB can become a lifeline in the form of their own personalized data storage they can carry at all times. This means that, in the sad circumstances where they do have to move frequently, they will always have their medical information accessible to healthcare providers, right there on their wrist.
Let us consider some situations in which MAAB could help children living within foster care.
Invisible Conditions
Commonly associated with invisible conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is an impaired ability to speak and socialize. As the name suggests, such disorders live on a spectrum and therefore affect everyone differently. However, some common traits of ASD include: difficulty developing language skills, poor understanding of nonverbal cues, and struggling to communicate when responding to heightened levels of stress.
It is not hard to imagine how any one of these factors alone could be extremely difficult to contend with during the stressful occurrence of a medical emergency.
My Angel Alert Band goes a long way to alleviate many of these problems. For one, communicates the child’s essential medical information to the first responder, saving a potentially impossible task from the child themselves. Furthermore, MAAB will let a first responder know that the child they are helping has an invisible condition, allowing them to appropriately tailor their behavior ensuring that the child feels safe and cared for.
Allergies
Whilst moving through the foster care system, it is vital that the child and their carers keep a track of their allergies. If a child has a common food allergy, such as milk, eggs or shellfish it is likely that they are aware of it (although this should never be assumed). However, if they have a less common allergy or an allergy to medications such as penicillin or amoxicillin that they rarely (or never) have contact with, there is a high likelihood that a child forgets or simply does not know. It goes without saying that the potential consequences of forgetting about an allergy are disastrous. Mild allergic reactions might be limited to itching, nasal congestion or rashes. However, extreme allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis are life threatening and as such all allergies must be treated with the utmost seriousness.
In this regard, MAAB's medical alert bands could be lifesaving in a multitude of ways. For one, whenever a foster child is moved to a new area, their band could be tapped by the local health authority and all those responsible for their care would be instantly informed of all their allergies and able to cater to their dietary needs. What's more, in case of a medical emergency, one quick tap of the MAAB would quickly alert a first responder of a child’s penicillin allergy and a potentially fatal reaction would easily be avoided.
Medication/Treatment Plans
Children who are on treatment plans, may need consistent access to their medication. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is children with asthma. Children who have asthma must constantly have access to an inhaler, should their condition flare up whilst at school, out with friends or at home. Whilst moving through the foster care system, it is of vital importance that carers ensure children are keeping up to date with their medications. However, of course, with frequent movement this can become difficult.
Once again, this is where the magic of MAAB's medical ID bracelets comes in. With MAAB, a comprehensive list of the child’s precise medical needs will be right there on their wrist and easily tappable by the local health authority wherever they should find themselves. Carers will, therefore, be alerted of any treatment plans they must follow or medications they must pick up. This ensures that the child is getting the precise treatment that they need and deserve at any given moment.
Ensure the Well-Being of Foster Children with My Angel Alert Band
Children in foster care already face immense challenges, from dealing with the emotional trauma of separation to navigating frequent relocations. The uncertainty and instability in their lives make it even more critical to ensure they always have access to essential medical information. My Angel Alert Band is more than just a wearable medical ID—it’s a lifeline that can safeguard a child’s health and well-being, no matter where life takes them.
By providing immediate access to their health data, MAAB can save precious time in emergencies, ensure foster children receive the right care, and give peace of mind to caregivers. Whether it’s allergies, invisible conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder, or critical medications like asthma inhalers, MAAB ensures that every foster child’s medical needs are known and met.
Investing in a My Angel Alert Band is investing in the health and safety of a child. With MAAB, you can help provide foster children with a secure and reliable way to manage their medical information, empowering them with the protection they deserve. If a child that you love is in the foster care system, purchase a My Angel Alert Band today.
