final thesis-draft 8

Running head: FICTION LITERATURE TO HELP FOSTER CHILDREN 1
Using Fiction Literature to Help Children in Foster Care
Stephanie Hand
University of South Florida
Thesis Director: Mary Armstrong, Ph.D.
Committee Members: Donna Cohen, Ph.D.
Anne Anderson, M.A.
Honors Thesis
April 2013

FICTION LITERATURE TO HELP FOSTER CHILDREN 2
Children in Foster Care:
Using Fiction Literature to Help Ease the Transition and Effects
Foster care is an avoidable tragedy experienced by 400,000-500,000 children each year
throughout the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2012b)
when “approximately 754,000 children were confirmed to be victims of maltreatment” in 2010
(HHS, 2012j). Fortunately, the number of children in foster care is declining each year (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2012d), but, nevertheless, 400,540 children
were in foster care at the end of the 2011 fiscal year (HHS, 2012c) and only 104,236 of those
children were waiting to be adopted (HHS, 2012a). Florida alone has nearly 19,000 children in
foster care with 10,000 children placed with relatives and about 9,000 children living in foster
care homes or group homes (Koff, 2012).
The intent of state foster care policies to remove children from unfit parents and unsafe
environments, but they may in fact place many children at risk for developing emotional,
psychological, and behavioral problems. Even after Termination of Parental Rights (TPR),
children still wait, on average, over a year for adoption finalization (HHS, 2012i) and “many
states with a relatively high percentage of children entering foster care who were age 13 or
older at the time of entry also had a relatively high percentage of children reentering foster
care” (HHS, 2012k, p.4).
A number of interventions may be implemented to help children adjust to foster care,
such as screenings, psychotherapy, filial therapy, home visits by caseworkers, and/or a
guardian ad litem. One source of intervention that is sometimes overlooked is children’s
fiction and the impact a story can have on a child and this was one of the reasons I chose this
topic for my thesis.

My thesis has several objectives: (1a) to read selected research and policy articles to
understand factors that influence negative outcomes for children; (1b) to review a number of
books written for children in foster care; (2) to write a journal describing my readings,
activities, ideas, meetings, and writings over the duration of my thesis; and (3) to write a short
article for a children’s magazine about a child adjusting to life in a new foster home. The
literature review and my story follow. The journal is in an appendix.
Literature Review
There is a large amount of empirical literature about foster care and its effects on
children. In this section, I discuss the research literature and the children’s literature I read for
this project.
Research Literature Review
Foster care is considered “public care” for a child “who cannot, for a wide range of
reasons, be cared for by their natural families” (Dregan & Gulliford, 2012, p. 1517). Most of
these children have experienced some sort of abuse and neglect or have been exposed to
domestic violence, parental illness (physical and/or mental) or parental substance abuse; most
research shows a relationship between being in foster care as a child and negative outcomes as an
adult. Foster care is an important intervention in the lives of children taken away from their
parent when you consider that 54.1% of children adopted in 2011 were adopted by their foster
parent (HHS, 2012h). However, many children in foster care are reported to have or to be at risk
for a number of attachment, emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems, most likely due
to the stress of being removed from their family bonds and placed in a new and/or unstable
environment.

Attachment and emotional problems. Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby
and reinforced by Mary Ainsworth, is an important framework for foster care research and the
impact an attachment disorder can have on the child’s ability to trust adults. Attachment theory
focuses on how children form bonds with their caregivers in the beginning stages of life and how
these bonds develop and affect their personality, adjustment, and future relationships (Ruff &
Baron, 2012). When facing environmental threats, separation from their caregiver, or internal
distress, the infant is expected to search for closeness with their caregiver (Rusk & Rothbaum,
2010, p. 32).
Secure attachments are characterized by a caregiver who responds appropriately to the
needs of a distressed child and by a child who is distressed by separation from the caregiver, but
can be calmed quickly when reunited with that caregiver. However, there are several forms of
insecure attachments. According to Connors (2011), one type of insecure attachment is resistant
or ambivalent and is characterized by children who linger around their caregiver and do not seek
engagement with their environment. When separated from their caregiver, they show a high level
of distress and react with anger and extreme proximity seeking when reunited with their
caregiver. The caregivers of these infants are seen to be irregular and contradictory in their
responses to the infant, although, at times, they are known to show affection. Another type of
insecure attachment is avoidant. These infants do not show distress when they are separated from
their caregiver and they ignore their caregiver when reunited, finding toys to busy themselves
with. Mothers of these infants reject their infant’s attempts to play, stay away from any physical
contact with the infant, and do not interfere when the infant is distressed (p. 350-351).
A third type of insecure attachment is known as disorganized and these infants “may
freeze, appear disoriented, and display fear” and may be victims of child maltreatment or

parental trauma. A caregiver for these children serves as a secure base and a representation of
harm or threat (Connors, 2011, p. 351). Similarly, children with disordered attachments may
alienate themselves from others (Newton, Litrownik, & Landsverk, 2000).
Related to attachment, is the concept of complex trauma. According to The National
Traumatic Stress Network, when a child encounters a traumatic events (or several traumatic
events), he/she has difficulty cultivating strong attachments to caregivers which makes them
more susceptible to stress. They often internalize or externalize their stress reactions and can
experience even more depression, anxiety, or anger. The children start to believe that other
people cannot be trusted and may be more guarded in their interactions or become ‘emotionally
numb’. These children can have trouble calming down, lack impulse control, act oppositional
and defensively, and may not consider possible consequences of their behavior. They become
“easily overwhelmed” and dissociate themselves from their experiences (The National Child
Traumatic Stress Network).
Many of the children in foster care who enter into out-of-home care already possess
physical, mental, or emotional problems caused by their experiences as an infant: 84.1% of
children in foster care are considered to be “special needs” (HHS, 2012g). Strong, secure
attachments are one aspect of life that these children may not have formed in their unpredictable
or unsafe home life. It is also possible that these children may have formed secure attachments to
their parent, but that bond is severed when they lose their attachment figure and they do not form
future attachments with caregivers. Due to this insecure attachment as a child, they will “be
angry, fearful, or passive,” and this emotional instability may even last into adulthood (Connors,
2011, p. 352). Moreover, according to Del Quest et al. (2012), “approximately 40% and 47% of
foster youth receive special education services and they are significantly more likely to be

identified as having emotional disturbances…as compared to non-foster youth” (Del Quest,
Fullerton, Geenen, Powers, & The Research Consortium to Increase the Success of Youth in
Foster Care, 2012, p. 1604).
Mikulincer et al. (2005) conducted five studies showing that avoidant attachment was
correlated with lower rates of compassion and helpfulness, while anxious attachment was simply
linked to personal distress but no helpful behavior. Avoidant participants only helped when they
gained something, either a physical reward or some sort of emotional relief (Mikulincer, Shaver,
Gillath, & Nitzberg, 2005, p. 835).
Behavioral problems. Children in foster care oftentimes repeat “the same dynamics that
they themselves experienced” and they are at risk for more negative outcomes than are nonfoster
youth (Ruff & Baron, 2012, p. 387). According to Bowlby’s internal working model perspective,
children have fixed ideas and notions when faced with new situations and they tend to react to
their current environment in the same way they have responded to past. Thus, if they do not
match their behavior to what is expected by their foster parent or new caregiver, this relationship
may fail, and they may be moved from this home (Tucker & MacKenzie, 2012, p. 2209).
Children in foster care (especially those in kinship care) are reported by their teachers to have
more noticeable behavioral problems (Hegar & Rosenthal, 2009, p. 676) and children who have
experienced multiple placements are found to have more behavior problems and negative
outcomes (Newton et al., 2000). Behavior problems are exacerbated by separation from siblings
and being placed in non-kinship care (Hegar & Rosenthal, 2011).
Foster children who have been placed in volatile environments show both internalizing
and externalizing problem behaviors and the children who are physically aggressive and violent
will likely experience more placement change, which is correlated with even more behavioral

problems in the child (Newton et al., 2000, p. 1371-1372). While “serious delinquent behaviors
[such as robbery, theft, prostitution, and/or drugs] are relatively rare among foster children,”
problems such as running away, skipping school, lying, hitchhiking, and public disorder are
much more common (Vandivere, Chalk, & Moore, 2003, p. 4). Although the average age for
adoption is about 6-½-years-old (HHS, 2012f), children who experience a very lengthy stay in
foster care may have experienced numerous unpleasant and uncaring placements, cause the most
problems for caregivers, and are expected to be delinquent and emotionally disturbed” (Dregan
& Gulliford, 2012, p. 1523).
Fifty percent of foster care youth complete high school or their GED compared to 86% of
youth in the general population. Only 16% of youth in foster care who receive “special education
services…graduated from high school…[and] 18% left school because they were incarcerated”
(Del Quest et al., 2012, p. 1604-1605).
Psychological problems. Research indicates that 35% to 85% of children who enter into
foster care have considerable mental health problems and these problems are only intensified by
multiple placements, unclear lengths of stay, temporary or permanent loss of their parents, and
stressors dealing with adjusting to new families and environments (Leslie, Landsverk, Ezzet-
Lofstrom, Tschann, Slymen, & Garland, 2000). Children who enter foster care before the age of
6, are 4 to 5 times more likely to be developmental delayed than nonfoster children and many of
these children have been abused or neglected which are “extremely detrimental to children’s
health, neurobiological and behavioral development” (Meloy & Phillips, 2012, p. 252). The
problems identified in foster children “have ranged from relational and coping difficulties and
school failure, to emotional and behavioral disturbances causing moderate to severe impairment”

and the most common disorders are “conduct disorder, attentional disorders, aggressive behavior,
and depression (Leslie et al., 2000, p. 467).
Rusk and Rothbaum (2010) explain that children who have had insecure attachments are,
even in to adulthood, less confident when they face difficulties and stressful situations and are
less likely to be curious and explorative. People with insecure attachments are also less likely to
modify their opinions and judgments when faced with an experience that challenged their prior
beliefs (p. 35), less likely to persist in problem solving tasks, less likely to feel capable of coping
with stressors, and less likely to seek social and emotional support (p. 36). They also have less
secure self-representations and experience “the most cognitive interference on a task” after
receiving feedback about previous failure (p. 36).
It is important to note that children in foster care can have varying protective factors and
risk factors influencing their resilience to adversity. Adoption by a married couple who can
provide a cohesive family bond is one protective factor, and 68% of children are adopted by a
married couple (HHS, 2012e). Similarly, a well-trained and supervising foster family is also a
protective factor. However, there are many more risk factors than protective factors for foster
children. One potential protective factor area, the use of children’s literature, has not been
explored, and that is the focus of my next section.
Children’s Literature Review
Books written for /about foster children try to address the different issues a child may
face in foster care, but the children’s emotions are not validated and there is little to help them
understand what is going on and what may happen in the future. In this section, I look examine
both nonfiction and fiction books and discuss how they do or do not enhance a child’s resiliency
against risk factors associated with foster care.

Nonfiction. While the nonfiction children’s books address some aspects of the processes
involved in foster care, these stories do not provide any validation or explanation of emotions or
psychological problems a foster child may encounter. Foster Parents is a short nonfiction book
written for very young children, giving a very general overview of what a foster parent is
(Rissman, 2011). However, there are few details about how or why a child enters foster care.
Although Foster Parents may help a child understand a foster parent’s role, it does not help
children experiencing foster care to understand what is happening in their life. When Do I Go
Home? is written for foster parents and professionals involved in foster care. It starts with a
narrative of a girl in foster care, but it is followed by “intervention strategies” to help adults
interact with children in foster care and understand what is going on in that child’s life (Hoyle,
1999). Although this books helps adults who are helping the foster child, it does not directly help
the child understand his/her emotions or the events going on around them.
Maybe Days contains a lot of information for children and is one of the few books that
explains in detail who the people are involved in foster care, what experiences foster children
might face, and a few of the problems they might have adjusting to this new life. It explains who
foster parents are and what they do, why a child may not be able to live with his/her parents, and
the roles of a social worker, therapist, lawyer, and judge. It also directly tells the child that until
things are all finalized, there will be a lot of ‘maybes’ but the most important thing is to be
patient and to “[be] you” (Wilgocki & Wright, 2002). This book provides a lot of information
about the people and situations children might encounter in foster care but does not give a lot of
insight into the different emotions a child might face. In order to describe emotions and different
feelings that a child might experience, fiction books were written about foster care.

Fiction. Many of the books for foster children are general, fictionalized accounts of what
happens in foster care, using animal characters or having plots that describe situations to which
children may not easily relate. Six of the eleven books, directly involving foster care or adoption,
I studied involved animals as the main character(s): Meet Me at the Moon describes the story of a
baby elephant; Murphy’s Three Homes is the story of a dog; in Zachary’s New Home Zachary is
a kitten adopted by ducks; Where’s Home? is the story of a kitten; the main character in Are You
My Mother? is a baby bird; and My Real Family is a family of bears who adopts a lamb. I believe
that using animals to depict the events of foster care and adoption does not allow children to
connect with the character or the story, and they may not be able to identify with the animal
characters.
Not only are the characters fictionalized, the plot events are too general and the
descriptions of events are generally very broad, which does not allow the child to understand
what is happening in his/her life or prepare for future situations. In Meet Me at the Moon, the
baby elephant’s mother leaves to find rain and promises that he will find her again when and
where the moon is low to the Earth (Marino, 2012). In Are You My Mother?, the mother bird
leaves to get food and the baby bird hatches and leaves the nest in search of his mother
(Eastman, 1960). These stories never mention anything about foster parents or any of the events
that would happen if a parent were to leave their child in the real world. While Welcome Comfort
is about a human child and mentions that he is in foster care, little more is said, and the focus is
on how he befriends a custodian who is secretly Santa Claus (Polacco, 1999).
Murphy’s Three Homes tells the story of how the dog Murphy was moved around
between homes. His mother was too old to take care of him, so his owners gave him to a family
with other dogs, but he didn’t get enough food, so he was taken by Animal Control. Then, at his

second house, he was too playful and jumped on people too much, so they gave him away. One
night, they had a party and he made a mess in the bathroom. When the people came to check on
him, they scolded him and he ran away. Nonetheless, the couple searched for him and when they
found him and took him home, Murphy knew that was where he belonged (Gilman, 2009). It’s a
great story about having multiple foster placements, but it never uses that word or the word
adoption. Because of this, children won’t necessarily understand that this book is about a dog
going to different foster families; it will be mistaken as a story of a dog who finally found
owners to take care of him.
Mama One, Mama Two has a bit more detail about why the main character, a little girl in
foster care, could not live with her mother and it uses words like “social worker” (p. 13) and
“‘for-a-while’ home” (p. 14). However, it does not address what happens when a child enters
foster care, and the only emotion it addresses is when it says that the girl is “afraid” and wants to
know if there will be a night-light (MacLachlan, 1982). My Real Family focuses on the sibling of
a foster/adopted child, and the main character, Sarah, daydreams about herself being adopted
(McCully, 1994). I believe that this story glorifies being adopted and paints a picture of Sarah’s
life as much better if she could find her ‘real parents,’ which could put the wrong idea into
children’s heads.
Zachary’s New Home, Where’s Home?, and Finding the Right Spot are three of the
fiction books that provide a little more detail and explanation about different situations
encountered in foster care. Zachary’s New Home tells the story of an abused kitten who enters
foster care and goes to live with a duck couple. The reason this story is better than some of the
others is that it focuses on the progression of Zachary’s emotions. He cries himself to sleep, he
gets into a fight at school, and he ends up loving his foster/adoptive parents (Blomquist &

Blomquist, 1990). His emotions are explicitly stated, which can help a child understand why they
feel sad or angry and help them learn to deal with these feelings in a correct way. Where’s
Home? is similar in that the main character is a kitten, Littleprints, who has been both abused
and neglected. This story does a good job showing how different children react to foster care
because it shows Littleprints and his younger brother Bucky and how they deal with multiple
foster placements. Littleprints is nervous but accepting of his foster parents, but Bucky exhibits
both emotional and behavioral issues, causing the siblings to be split so that Littleprints can stay
in his current foster home (Israelievitch, 2011). However, the downside is that both of these
stories are about animals, not human children. This can hinder a child’s ability to connect or
identify with the main character.
Lastly, Finding the Right Spot tells about a girl, who used to be homeless, and although
she is happy in her foster home, she still expresses love for her mom. This story does a good job
of explaining the girl’s emotions because it is told in first-person. It lets the reader see inside the
mind and the heart of the girl and it shows how, even though she misses her mom, foster care is
safer and better than being homeless (or with a parent that can’t take care of his or her child).
There is also a parallel between the girl and the dog they adopt: both are slow to accept the new
people in their life, but in the end they warm up to them and accept their new home (Levy,
2004). The only problem I find with this story is that it doesn’t explain how the girl transitioned
to living in her foster home and how she got used to being there.
Conclusion
It appears that children’s authors are trying to creep around a sensitive subject so as not to
offend or be overly graphic, but this does not help the children who live in foster care. Although
some of the fiction books feature foster children with emotional or behavioral problems, there is

no mention of psychological or attachment problems, nor do the books provide recommendations
about how children can deal with these feelings or the confusion of this time.
It is obvious that there are gaps between what is written in research and policy articles
and how children’s literature approaches this topic. Children in foster care need someone to be
open and honest with them in a positive manner, explaining what is happening and why it is
happening. It is important not to view all foster children as a homogenous group. They are a
group of children from different races, ages, and backgrounds who have had different
experiences. No two children are exactly alike and I assume that is why so much of the
children’s literature is so broad and general—authors want their stories to apply to as many
children as possible.
The next section presents the story I wrote. I wanted my thesis to make a positive
contribution, and it is my hope that this stroy will be published in a children’s magazine. It is
intended to help adults and children understand some of the negative feelings foster children may
have in specific situations as well as help foster children understand their own feelings and
needs.
My Story
In my story, I tried to address the emotional and attachment problems that foster children
face. I also addressed two ways to help mitigate these problems: spirituality and self-efficacy. I
wrote the story from a first-person point-of-view so that anyone—foster children, nonfoster
children, and adults—can identify with the main character and understand what a foster child
goes through. Even as the author of this piece, writing the story helped me to be able to look at
this issue from the child’s perspective and stirred my empathy for these children and what they
experience.

I reviewed two magazines as possible sources tosubmit my article/story for publication:
Highlights and Pockets (a religious magazine for children). This draft, which contains religious
material, was written specifically for Pockets The word limit for Pockets is 600 to 1000 words,
and my word count was 1251. The present draft is over the specified word limit, but once I
graduate, I plan to return to my work and edit it accordingly.

Ready for Anything
By
Stephanie Hand
“Shawn, it’s time to wake up.”
I hear Julie’s voice float into my room and I open my eyes, sleepily, and stare at the
ceiling of my room. At least, that’s what Julie and Mike called it, “This is your room, Shawn, all
yours.” My room? ...I’m not sure if I want it, yet.
Julie and Mike are my foster parents. They’ve been taking care of me for the last couple
of months. Foster parents are people who take care of kids when they can’t live with their
parents. Sometimes it’s only for a little while, other times, it’s for a long-time.
“Come on, Shawn, you’ve got to get up. First day of school…you don’t want to be late
for the fourth grade!” I can almost hear the smile in Julie’s voice as she calls me. I sit up in bed
and stretch my arms, yawning.
A new school…again. Great, just great. I hate the ‘first day of school’ feeling. I get out
of bed and open my dresser drawer. I pick out a bright blue shirt and some jeans; Julie took me
shopping to pick out all new clothes for school. It’s been a long time since I’ve had new clothes.
As I get dressed, I think about what today will be like. Everyone wants to know about the
new kid and instead of asking you about it, the other kids just gossip to each other about where I
came from and why I switched schools. At my last school, the school year was already halfway
over when I started. Everyone already had their best friends and they all knew where to sit at
lunch.
I fix a bowl of cereal, hoping that today will turn out better than that day. That first day of
school had not turned out very well. The kids asked me dumb questions about why I had moved

in the middle of the school year and they gave me weird looks, too. The worst part was all the
papers that the teacher had for my ‘parents’ to sign. It was not very fun trying to explain why I
didn’t live with my parents. There’s that word again: “parents.” As if I had parents anymore…
This is the third place I’ve been since I was taken away from my mom and step-dad. My
dad died when I was a couple years old and my mom married Joe when I was four-years-old. I
didn’t really like Joe. He yelled at me a lot. He even hit me once.
Joe would go out on Fridays and he would come home on Sunday afternoon, smelling
like smoke and alcohol—sometimes my mom went with him and they were gone even longer.
One time, during the summer, they were gone for almost a week and I was left at home, all
alone. I ate peanut butter sandwiches every day until they came back.
Even when my mom didn’t go with Joe, I still felt like I was alone. My mom would drink
all day until her eyes were red and her words were hard to understand. Every so often, I would
find her lying on the couch. I had to look and listen real close to make sure she was still
breathing.
One night, two police officers and another woman came to our house and talked to Joe
and my mom. I couldn’t hear what the officers were saying, but I could hear Joe saying bad
words to them. He kept telling them to leave us alone.
As I brush my teeth, I remember the woman coming inside to talk to me. She told me to
get some of my stuff and that I had to go with her. She told me I couldn’t live with my parents
anymore, at least, not for a while. Not until they would take care of me better. I have a feeling
that’s never going to happen, not after this long. They probably don’t even love me anymore.
They probably don’t even care. Nobody does.

I finish getting ready, go back into my room, and sit on my bed. I remember the woman
taking me to a group home. There were lots of other kids there—they couldn’t live with their
parents either. It was fun to play with all the other kids my age, but it was sad sometimes because
we all missed our parents. I was only there for about a month, and then I went to live with a
friend of my mom. She had no idea what she was doing and I could do almost anything I wanted
to—until she would get mad and lock me in my room. When she gave me back, she said it was
because she couldn’t afford me, but I think it’s because she didn’t want me anymore.
Now, I’m here…and ‘here’ has rules. Not lots of rules, just rules I have to follow so I can
grow up better…good rules, I guess.
Mike and Julie take me to church, too. My grandma used to take me to church before she
died. I remember some of the verses we learned. Last Sunday, I learned a new verse. The
preacher, Pastor Ian, read from the book of Jeremiah. He asked if anybody knew what would
happen to him in the future—no one raised his hand. He shrugged his shoulders and said that he
didn’t know either. But, he said that God did. “In the book of Jeremiah*, chapter 29 and verse
11, the Bible says this, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ I don’t know about you, but if
anyone was going to create my future, I’d sure want it to be God.”
I was so nervous about school today that I couldn’t even sleep last night. But I kept
thinking about that verse. And, even now, as I wait for Julie to take me to school, the scary
thoughts about school and what will happen in the future pop in my head. But I remember that
verse and it calms me down. God has plans for me. And not just any plans, but good plans, plans
that are going to help me grow and thrive, plans to give me a future. I didn’t think I’d ever have
much of a future…until I came here. I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but Julie and Mike really do

seem to care about what happens to me—I even overheard them talking about adoption in the
future. They said only if I wanted it. I think I might like the idea of this being my room…
Many things here are different from what I’m used to. Sometimes there are things I like
and sometimes there are things I don’t like, but it’s still a nice place to live. It’s nice to have
people care about me for once. I like it here. And with a God who loves me and knows my entire
future, I guess things really aren’t as bad as they seem. For the first time, I decide to pray and
thank God for always being with me and taking care of my entire future, even when I am unsure.
Just as I finish praying, Julie comes around the corner and peeks into my room, smiling.
“Shawn, are you ready to go?”
“Yeah,” I respond. I’m ready for anything.
*Jeremiah 29:11, New International Version
__________

Conclusion
While researchers study the foster care structure and process as well as the relationships
between foster care and negative attachment, emotional, behavioral, and psychological
outcomes, authors are composing fiction and nonfiction literature with the hopes of preventing
negative outcomes in foster children. Nonetheless, the fictionalization of characters and plot
events in children’s literature likely does not provide any actual aid to the children for whom
these books are written because the children may not be able to connect to the main character
and/or the plot events in the stories. Overall, however, there are many aspects of children’s
literature that need to be reviewed and tweaked in order to truly help the children in foster care
adjust to their new environment and experiences.
While children’s literature should not be explicit, it should not be overtly fictionalized
and should take into account the details and different episodes of foster care so that the children
can generalize the stories to their own experiences. Seeking to bridge this gap, I created a short
story for publication in a children’s magazine focusing on the emotions a child in foster care may
experience. My next step is to edit my story and submit it for publication in Pockets, a religious
magazine for children.
With more than 400,000 U.S. children entering foster care each year (HHS, 2012b) and
54% of these children being adopted by their foster parents (HHS, 2012h), it is evident that foster
care can have a enormous impact on the future of a foster child. Despite the fact that it is
virtually impossible to have a fiction book specifically written for each individual foster child,
we still have the power to help these children adjust and transition into their new life. Adjusting
the children’s literature in small ways to help even one of these children identify with certain plot

events or main characters is an uncomplicated process that may lead to reducing many of the
attachment, emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems that foster children face.
__________

Acknowledgments
Thank you to Dr. Cohen for helping me initially choose a thesis topic and introducing me
to Dr. Armstrong. You are the reference for all things Honors Thesis.
Dr. Armstrong, your knowledge of the research was invaluable and you steered my
project in the right direction from the beginning.
Anne, I could not have done this without your help and patience. You put in a lot of hard
work to teach me about the writing process. Prepare for future editing and publication!

References
Blomquist, G. M., & Blomquist, P. B. (1990). Zachary’s new home: A story for foster and
adopted children. Washinton, DC: Magination Press.
Connors, M. E. (2011). Attachment theory: A "secure base" for psychotherapy integration.
Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 21(3), 348-362.
De Smet, M., & Talsma, N. M. (2008). I have two homes. New York, NY: Clavis Publishing.
de Vries, M. (2001). Chance and the butterfly. Custer, WA: Orca Book Publishers.
Del Quest, A., Fullerton, A., Geenen, S., Powers, L., & The Research Consortium to Increase the
Success of Youth in Foster Care, (2012). Voices of youth in foster care and special
education regarding their educational experiences and transition to adulthood. Children
and Youth Services Review, 34, 1604-1615.
Dregan, A., & Gulliford, M. C. (2012). Foster care, residential care and public care placement
patterns are associated with life trajectories: Popluation-based cohort study. Soc
Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 47, 1517-1526.
Eastman, P. D. (1960). Are you my mother?. New York, NY: Beginner Books.
Gaynor, K. (2007). A family for Sammy: A story to help explain foster care to young kids. (1 ed.).
Dublin, Ireland: Special Stories Publishing.
Gilman, J. L. (2009). Murphy’s three homes: A story for children in foster care. Washington,
DC: Magination Press. Harrison, M. I. (2003). The monster in me. New York, NY:
Holiday House.
Hegar, R. L., & Rosenthal, J. A. (2009). Kinship care and sibling placement: Child behavior,
family relationships, and school outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 670-
679.

Hegar, R. L., & Rosenthal, J. A. (2011). Foster children placed with or separated from siblings:
Outcomes based on a national sample. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 1245-
1253.
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professionals. Washington, DC: CWLA Press.
Israelievitch, G. (2011). Where's home?. Gainesville, FL: Triad Publishing Company.
Koff, R. (2013, March 28). Foster care legislation gives kids new freedoms. Tampa Bay Times,
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Levy, J. (2004). Finding the right spot: When kids can't live with their parents. Washington, DC:
Magination Press.
Lovell, C. M. (2005). The star: A story to help young children understand foster care. Sparta,
MI: Spartan Graphics.
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McCully, E. A. (1994). My real family. San Diego, CA: Browndeer Press.
Meloy, M. E., & Phillips, D. A. (2012). Foster children and placement stability: The role of child
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Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 817-839.
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http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects-of-complex-trauma

Nelson, J. (2005). Kids need to be safe: A book for children in foster care. Minneapolis, MN:
Free Spirit Publishing.
Nelson, J. (2006). Families change: A book for children experiencing termination of parental
rights. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.
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September 30th
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integration exercise. Business Communication Quarterly, 69(2), 172-183.

Appendix A
After I finished gathering research articles and information about foster care, I began this
responsive journal to document the development of my thinking about the current foster care
literature and fictional literature about foster care. It also serves as a record of my preparations
for writing my short story. My responsive journal contains the dates of my entries in
chronological order and my activities: writing exercises encouraged by Anne Anderson and my
responses/reactions to the readings.
9/14/12
Readings & Reactions:
Oscar the Cat Books
Dr. Cohen allowed me to look at some of the stories she has written about her cat, Oscar.
Aimed toward children, they are helpful in learning how to use effective vocabulary, sentence
structure, etc.
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1/24/13
Story ideas:
First person
child (boy), foster parents, and their child (girl?, older?)
 Day begins, wakes up in room, gets ready
 Explain why in foster care, what foster care is like before being placed in a home.
 First day of new school, tries to make friends
 Gets home, foster dad helps with homework
 “Sometimes I get visits from a caseworker or other people (therapist? Guardian ad
Litem?) whose job it is to make sure I’m safe. They ask me lots of questions. They also
tell me a lot of things, but I don’t understand everything. I may get to live with my
parents again. Or I might not.”
 Foster mom fixes dinner—doesn’t like the food
 Has a fight with the other child over ________
 Bath time and get ready for bed
 “A lot of things are new and different here. Sometimes there are things I like and
sometimes there are things I don’t like, but I guess it’s still a nice home to live in for
now. It’s nice to know that they care about me.”
http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/young-adult-
childrens/crafting_an_effective_plot_for_childrens_books
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Children%27s-Story
http://www.writing-world.com/children/backes1.shtml

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-childrens-books-for-dummies-cheat-
sheet.html
(After) Meeting with Anne Anderson, 1:30-2:30
We began the meeting discussing how I wanted the book to turn out in the end and what my
ideas were so far about the plot. We discussed what classes I was enrolled in and a little bit about
the research I had done regarding foster care and its effects on children. She read The First
Grade Takes a Test and She Come Bringing Me That Little Baby Girl to me and we discussed
how books that are written for children are also written for adults in a way; adults still enjoy and
get something out of reading books even though they are supposedly only meant for children.
We talked about the writer’s point of view and voice affect the way the story is perceived. She
also told me about Dr. Robert Cole and the books about one of his clients Ruby Bridges. She
then gave me a list of activities to complete throughout the writing process including keeping a
journal, a set of readings to read and reflect on, children’s literature blogs to follow, a database
for children’s literature to search for books, and encouraged me to write a little bit based on
actual events that have happened while my family has been fostering. Anne was able to give me
a lot of helpful advice and the books we looked at and discussed definitely were good resources
to explore and talk about.
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2/5/13, 12:30-1:10
The articles were very helpful and gave lots of information that are crucial to writing,
especially for children. They were very interesting to read.
Study Hall 101
I definitely like the tag line at the end, gets the reader involved (“…will let us use…”).
Explains in easy terms, easy to read and informative
 Writing involves studying
 Retain more information when we take notes
 Everything matters! (colors, tone, details in story)
 Outline stories we find most interesting
o External action first (to get an idea of the genre’s plot structure)
o Internal action (results in the character changing somehow)
 The ‘heart’ or the theme/purpose of the story
o In nonfiction, outline major points then note where the author used quotes, humor,
and examples to make the article come to life for the reader
o Then outline your own story
 You will be able to find your weak spots and how to fix them
Plans for Good
I really like the ‘heart’ of the story and the message to the readers. I like the religious
connection, too and it ties the story together. Even if the reader isn’t a child and/or
doesn’t have a learning disability or speech problem, they still understand the message:
everyone is capable of something and God loves them and knows what is best for them.

In the Beginning
Informative about the writing and publishing process. Gives easy to understand and easy
to use ‘rules of thumb’ when writing.
 Scaling down language without scaling down the story
o Match the reading level of the child
 Scaled down, but not dumbed down
 Can use higher vocabulary as long as you have context clues
 Introduce words in a clear context
o Limit length of story to somewhere between 300 and 2000 words
 Number of words in a sentence should match the age of the reader
 Look at children’s schoolbooks to get a sense of spelling and vocabulary
words at that grade level
 Tighten the action
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
It has an interesting take on writing for children. It addresses the misconceptions of how
to write for kids and how to look at kids—very informative
 Takes a change of mindset
o You must respect kids in order to write for kids
 Don’t see them as cute or little
 Don’t see them in need of fixing
 He’s just doing what we all are doing—getting through the day,
living life
 They look for someone like themselves, facing life’s challenges in
a way they can admire
o Must be able to get the child’s perspective—see them as they see themselves
 Think of them as a person from a different culture
o Make the entertaining plot your first priority
 If you are going to have a lesson or theme, do not make it obvious or
didactic
Through a Child’s Eyes
Is an interview with a particular children’s author (Louise Borden) and she tells how she
became an author, her writing process, research methods, and how to overcome writer’s
block.
 Think of working on something tangible—a book, not a ‘story’
 Write with the child in mind
 Tips
o Choose each word carefully
o Use strong verbs
o Vary the sentences and phrase lengths
 If you get writer’s block, ask yourself, “what am I trying to do? Why am I writing this
book?”

o If you don’t know how to begin, start by writing a letter to the reader
 This reminds you of the purpose and focus
o Revisit old projects
o If you get stuck in the middle, simplify the story
o Take a break
Five books from database:
Murphy’s Three Homes: A Story for Children in Foster Care.
Where's Home? Ages 8-12
Chance and the Butterfly. Ages 7-10
Welcome Comfort. Ages 4-8
Zachary’s New Home: A Story for Foster and Adopted Children. Ages 4-8
Kidlitosphere.org, three sites:
http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/
http://solvangsherrie.blogspot.com/
http://greatkidbooks.blogspot.com/
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2/7/13
(After) Meeting with Anne Anderson
We discussed what I expect my final thesis to be: a completed (or near-completed) story, a
journal of my writing process, and possibly a literature review. I expressed my desire to combine
the literature review and the journal. I told her that I had bought some children’s books to use as
a comparison to help me see how authors write for children and she suggested that I write a little
about my experience as a caregiver to help see my writing style.
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2/12/13
(After) Meeting with Dr. Armstrong
I talked to her about combining the literature review and the writing journal and we decided
that we would send an example and explanation of my plan to Dr. Cohen to verify that this
would be acceptable. Dr. Armstrong liked the idea as long as, at the end of the journal, I compare
the literature articles and discuss their implications.
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2/20/13
Murphy’s Three Homes: A Story for Children in Foster Care
Ages 4-8
This story is written for foster children ages 4-8. It is a story about a cute puppy that has had
three different homes and three different families. He starts to believe that he is a “bad luck dog”
and runs away when the last family scolds him for getting into the trash because he believed they
were going to give him away too. He hears all the dogs in other houses barking and points out
that they have a family because they must be good dogs. Then he hears the woman calling out
his name, trying to find him. She picks him up and takes him home where he thinks about all the

other dogs who think they are “bad luck dogs” and wishes that they will realize that it’s not their
fault and “that they too can become good luck dogs.” The last page contains a “Note to
Caregivers and other Adults” about foster care and the emotions children might have while in
foster care. It also gives things to talk about with your foster child while/after reading the book.
I think this is a good story for young children in foster care to learn that even though bad
things may be happening to them, it’s not their fault, that things will get better, and not to think
that nobody loves them. It’s also good at showing what the child might think and then show what
the other people were thinking. However, it doesn’t explain to the child what is really going on
and why.
Zachary’s New Home: A Story for Foster and Adopted Children
Ages 4-8
This story is somewhat similar to Murphy’s Three Homes, except that, in this story, some
things that happen to children in foster care are explained a little more to the child. It explains
why Zachary was taken from his home (his dad left and his mother was abusive). It talks about
being in a group home with other kids who were also taken from their parents and it talks about
going to court and being fostered/adopted. The story talks about Zachary being “kind of happy
and kind of scared” and that he really wanted to see his ‘real’ parents. It talks shortly about
adjusting to being in a new home and learning the new rules; it also talks about how his
foster/adoptive parents were nice and played games with him. The story even says that Zachary
was angry sometimes and that “he did not know why” and it led to him getting into a fight at
school. He overhears his foster/adoptive parents talking, thinks that they are really mad at him,
and wants to find his real parents. He goes looking for them instead of going to school the next
day. He looks for his old house all day, gets lost, and is found by a police officer at night, who
takes him back home. He thinks that nobody wants him, but when he gets home, his
foster/adoptive parents are very happy to see him and say they have been worried and looking for
him all day. They feed him, give him a bath, and then talk to him. They tell him that they know
he misses his parents and that he might get to visit them one day, but that they are happy that he
is with them and he falls asleep dreaming about having a new home.
I think this story is good about pointing out the feelings a child might have about his real
parents after being taken away. Even though Zachary’s mom would hit him, he still misses her
and is scared about being in a new place. It also does a better job of explaining why he was taken
away; it says, “On the way to the foster home, Sarah told Zachary that children need safe homes
where they will not be hurt, where they are not left alone, where they receive loving care and
attention. Even though his mother loved him, she had many problems. She tried to take care of
Zachary, but she could not give him the kind of care he needed.” I think this explains a wide
range of reasons a child could be taken from his/her parents and even though it is vague, it helps
young children understand a little bit of what is going on.
Foster Parents
This book is considered Primary Social Studies. It is a very short book that explains foster
care and foster parents in very basic terms. It briefly and generally explains why children go into
foster care and how long they stay with foster parents. Although short and not very detailed, it is
a good starting point for young children entering foster care (and for other children to learn about
foster care) to learn about what may happen to them in the future. They learn that they may stay

with foster parents for a long time or a short time, they might be adopted, or they might go back
to their family.
Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care
Ages 4-10
This book is a short, non-fiction story for kids in foster care. It talks about the things that may
happen (you may like your foster parents, you may not; you may look like them or you may not;
you may call them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ or you may not). It also talks about the people involved
(parents, foster parents, social worker, therapist, lawyer, judge) and their roles/jobs. Lastly, it
talks about all the “maybes” of being in foster care and tells the children not to let the “maybes”
and “maybe days” keep you from having fun and “being you.”
I think this is a helpful book for children in foster care. So far, I would say that this book
outlines the job of the people involved the best—the child can easily understand who all these
people are and why they are involved in the child’s life. I think it gives a good lesson to the child
as well. It is unknown as to what will happen to the children until everything is figured out—
there are going to be a lot of ‘maybes’—but it is important to not dwell of the things that may or
may not happen. What is important is to be taken care of and enjoy life.
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2/26/13
Journal Article:
Leslie, L. K., Landsverk, J., Ezzet-Lofstrom, R., Tschann, J. M., Slymen, D. J., & Garland, A. F.
(2000). Children in foster care: Factors influencing outpatient mental health service use.
This article addressed age, gender, race, history of abuse or maltreatment, and other factors
that influenced whether a child who had been in foster care for one year had received outpatient
mental health services. Some quotes from the article that are relevant to my thesis project are:
 “Children entering the foster care system are at significant risk for behavioral and
psychological problems.”
 “A history of in utero and environmental drug and alcohol exposure, common to young
children entering the foster care system, may predispose children to emotional and
cognitive problems. Experiences of maltreatment and neglect have also been linked with
emotional problems. Entering the foster care system itself presents a significant
psychological challenge; children must cope with the effects of traumatic events
precipitating their entry into foster care, face a temporary or permanent loss of their
parent(s), and adjust to new families and living situations. In addition, foster care
experiences may exacerbate psychological problems; multiple foster placements are
common and the length of placement is often unclear.”
 “Problems identified have ranged from relational and coping difficulties and school
failure, to emotional and behavioral disturbances causing moderate to severe impairment,
with conduct disorder, attentional disorders, aggressive behavior and depression the most
common disorders. Rate of behavioral and psychological problems documented in
children in foster care are higher than the 11% to 25% prevalence rates obtained from
community samples.”

 “Both concluded that, while children in foster care were using more services than other
children, there was a very real possibility of under-utilization of mental health services
given the high rate of need in this vulnerable population.”
The first two quotes deal with the purpose of this thesis: to write a book for the children in
foster care dealing with these changes in housing and caregivers to help them adjust and possibly
ease the transition and minimize the chances of having these emotional and behavioral problems.
The third quote talks about the different problems that children in foster care are known to have.
To address this issue, the child in my story can be diagnosed with ADHD and may show
aggressive behavior in his school or home setting. This will help other children who have similar
problems because they will see that it is normal to feel upset but the story can offer better ways
of coping. The last quote is relevant because it shows that children who need mental health
services don’t always get it. Maybe the child in my story can make a quick comment about how
he used to see a therapist and it really helped him; this might encourage other children and
caretakers to reach out and request assistance for the child in regards to mental health services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2/28/13
Writing on Experience:
“Coco!” He yells, “Coco!”
I come to see what is going on and I find him lying on the floor next the sitting dog.
“Why are you yelling? Leave the dog alone and go sit at the table.”
He sits up, “I’m just petting him!”
“No,” I correct, “you’re yelling. Go sit at the table.” My parents are outside speaking to
the Guardian ad Litem—they can deal with him when they come in, I think to myself.
He gets up from the floor and plops himself down on the couch, rolling his eyes. “You
just fuss about everything. You just find things to fuss about.”
As much as I want to ignore him, I can’t, “No, you do things that you don’t need to be
doing and you cause me to fuss. You’re the one who gets into trouble. I don’t just make up
things to fuss at you for; you do it.” He rolls his eyes and continues to complain under his breath.
I turn and leave the room, making one last mistake: I mimic his childish grumbling.
“Rosie!” I hear him turn the doorknob before I turn to see him and I sprint to the door.
I’m too late; he’s already taken two steps outside. He opens his mouth to rat me out to my
parents, but my mother interrupts.
“What are you doing out here? What’s going on?” She glares at each of us in turn. We
both talk at once, telling our own biased accounts of the incident, and correcting the inaccurate
information that the other provides. She hushes us both and takes my side, “Why didn’t you just
do what she said?” I smile inwardly. “Get inside and we’ll talk about it when I come in.”
“I was gonna ask Kevin if—” There he goes, lying again...trying to save himself from
some of the trouble he’s going to be in.
“Get inside! Go take your bath, you’re going to bed early tonight.” My mother raises her
voice.
“Good,” he retorts sarcastically. Always so disrespectful…
Story Draft:
The sunlight shines through my bedroom window. It’s almost time to get up for school. I
lay in my bed and look around at the room—my room, at least, that’s what they said it was.
-----

This isn’t the house I grew up in…and these aren’t my parents. I don’t know these people
very well, just their names. The said that they’re going to be taking care of me. This is the third
place I’ve been since I was taken away from my mom and step-dad.
My mom and step-dad were doing some bad things and hanging around bad people. A
couple police officers came to our house one night and told me I couldn’t live with them
anymore—not until they can take care of me better and stop doing the bad things.
-----
First, I was taken to a group home. There were a lot of other kids there for me to play
with and we didn’t get into trouble a lot because there were so many of us for the adults to take
care of.
……..
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2/28/13
(After) Meeting with Anne Anderson
We discussed the two passages above. While the first practice writing has more emotion—or
at least, tension—in it, the story draft is very flat. She recommended that I rewrite the personal
experience from the child’s point of view (and if I can’t do that yet, rewrite from my parent’s
point of view and/or from an omniscient point of view until I can write from his perspective) to
get the feel of looking through a child’s eyes. We discussed how being able to see through other
people’s eyes is beneficial not only for writing (especially children’s writing) but also for
psychology. She also pointed out that a good way to a foothold into children’s publishing would
be to submit a short story to a magazine. She offered the idea of writing the story as a magazine
story rather than an actual book and she told me about a religious magazine, Pockets
(Pockets.upperroom.org), and Highlights and told me about contests both magazines offer. She
also told me about two classes she is taking that would be helpful in future endeavors (with
writing and psychology): Autoethnography with Carolyn Ellis and Narrative Inquiry with Art
Bochner.
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3/5/13
Chance and the Butterfly (Ages 7-10)
The Monster in Me
These books are longer chapter books aimed toward older children. Chance and the Butterfly
is about a foster child who is hated by his foster parents’ son and their home is cold and
unwelcoming. He is not doing well in school, until caterpillars arrive for the classroom. The
Monster in Me is about a girl loved by her foster family, overcoming her childhood with a drug-
addicted mother. I was unable to fully read both of these books as they are both long chapter
books, but it is interesting to see books about foster children aimed for older children—you don’t
see too many with that intended audience age. It was also interesting to see the more description
you get with books for older kids as well as the fact that the books for younger kids almost
always involved animals and now, you have actual people as the main characters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/14/13

Welcome Comfort
Ages 4-8
This book is about a boy (Welcome Comfort) who has moved from foster home to foster
home, he never knew his parents, and he is teased by other kids about his weight. He finally feels
like he has a family when he is befriended by the school custodian and his wife. He grows up
under their care and eventually takes a job at the school, too. When the custodian retires, he
recommends Welcome to take his place and invites him to join him and his wife on their
Christmas Eve tradition to go up North. Long story short, the custodian is Santa Claus and gives
him a pin that Welcome dreamed Santa had given him on the first Christmas after he met them.
Welcome takes over his job at the school and as Santa Claus and the story ends as it begins,
Welcome befriending a boy who was being teased. It doesn’t really focus on the foster care
aspect, but it does reveal that you can find people who love you and a place to fit in, no matter
what.
Mama One, Mama Two
This story is about a little girl currently living in a foster home with her “Mama Two”
because her mother (“Mama One”) has depression and can’t take care of her. This little girl,
loves her foster mother enough to refer to her as her mother and interacts with her just as she
used to with her real mother. The social worker relates her mother leaving with a blue bird
migrating and returning in the springtime. She asks her foster mother at the end of story when
spring is and her foster mother responds by saying, “Whenever Mama One comes home will be
spring.”
I think this story is good for kids who have a chance to be reunified with their parents
because it is about a girl who is waiting for her mom to be able to take care of her again, but
while she waits, she is living with someone that she loves and that loves her. She doesn’t know
when she will able to see her mother again, but the story kind of implies that one day, her mother
will be well enough to take care of her again. It gives kids hope and lets them know that it’s okay
to be happy while they are waiting to go back to their parents. It even shows them that they are
lucky—they have extra parents to love them.
Finding the Right Spot
I really like this story for foster kids. It is about a girl who lives with her “aunt” after being
taken away from her mom (because they were living in a homeless shelter). It’s aimed at a little
bit older age range of children, so it has some honest moments about her mom not taking care of
her (getting drunk and not taking her to school), her mom in rehab and not showing up to visit
her on her birthday, and the emotions she feels about her “aunt” and her mom. It also has a
unique approach in that her aunt gets her a dog that is skittish and won’t let anyone pet him on
the head. There’s a certain kind of parallelism between the girl and the dog; as the girl warms up
to living with her aunt, the dog so the dog warms up to living with them. In the end, he even
starts to let her pet him on the head which leads to the girl exclaiming that she finally “found the
right spot” which relates to petting the dog’s head and her own placement.
Meet Me at the Moon
This story is about a baby elephant who’s mother leaves to “climb the highest mountain to
ask the skies for rain”, but tells him that he will always be able to feel her love around him (in

the wind, the warmth of the sun, the brightest star, etc) and they will meet again when the moon
meets the horizon. She leaves, it rains, and he sings their special song to make the moon “touch
the ground.” And, off in the distance, he sees something—his mother—and he runs to her. The
story ends with them saying, “I love you” to each other.
It’s a little cheesy, but it is a cute story about a child being reunited with his parent. The only
problem I see would be if a child reads this and thinks that he/she will be reunited one day and
live for that day to come when there reunification is not going to happen. It could lead the child
to self-blame or not trust adults anymore.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/23/13
Writing Experience:
Jeez, you’re breath stinks Coco. “Coco!” I’m laying on the floor next to him, petting his
back. Close your mouth, dog, come on! “Coco!” Seriously, stop breathing on me.
“Why are you yelling? Leave the dog alone and go sit at the table.” Oh jeez, it’s her. Why
can’t she just leave me alone…I sit up, “I’m just petting him!”
“No, you’re yelling. Go sit at the table.”
I get up, shuffle over to the coffee table next to the couch, and let myself fall onto the
couch and slide to the floor, rolling my eyes. Stephanie thinks she knows everything—she thinks
she’s the boss of me. “You just fuss about everything. You just find things to fuss about.” That
got her; she can’t help but argue back now.
“No, you do things that you don’t need to be doing and you cause me to fuss. You’re the
one who gets into trouble. I don’t just make up things to fuss at you for; you do it.” She starts to
turn and walk out of the room. Gosh! She’s so annoying. Little Miss Perfect, just ‘cause she’s
older doesn’t mean I have to listen to her. Why should I? She always finds something to nag
about, no matter what. But, it is fun to watch how mad she gets…I grumble complaints under my
breath, just loud enough for her to hear. Aha! I’ve done it again: she mimics my griping and
that’s my cue.
“Rosie!” I yell for Stephanie’s mom who’s outside talking to that Guardian-lady. I jump
up swiftly and make it to the front door without her catching me, but she hears the doorknob turn
and I dart outside before she can make it down the hallway.
I open my mouth to rat her out, but Rose interrupts, “What are you doing out here?
What’s going on?” She glares at me and then at Stephanie, who is standing at the door behind
me, then back to me. We both talk at once, telling our own biased accounts of the incident, and
correcting the inaccurate information that the other provides. She hushes us both and takes her
side, “Why didn’t you just do what she said?” I feel Stephanie’s smirk rather than see it. Rose
continues, “Get inside and we’ll talk about it when I come in.”
Quick! Think of something! Anything! I need an excuse, “I was gonna ask Kevin if—”
“Get inside! Go take your bath; you’re going to bed early tonight.” Rose raises her voice.
“Good,” I retort, sarcastically. Pshh, like I care. I feel Stephanie’s eyes on me as I turn
from the front door and walk toward my room. Let her watch. She may have won tonight, but
there’s always tomorrow…
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/28/13

My Real Family
I think this story is focused more for the children of a family who is fostering/adopting a
child. It focuses on a bear cub that is unhappy and jealous when her family adopts a stray sheep.
She begins to imagine that she is in fact adopted, runs away (like almost every other story with
an unhappy child) to find her ‘real’ family, and eventually gets lost. She turns around to go home
after having no luck finding her ‘real’ parents and spots a campfire. She listens to the voices and
realizes that it is her family, hoping to find her. She goes to them, apologizes for being
“grumpy,” and realizes that they all—together—are a family.
It’s a cute story about being jealous and upset about parents adopting a new child, but I think
it definitely needs more detail or depth. I mean, it’s a start, and it will help young kids realize
their unfounded feelings about a new sibling, but I think to be able to reach older kids, it needs to
address why you might have these emotions and how to keep them in check if they keep popping
up.
I Have Two Homes
Ages 4+
This book is not about foster care, but it is about a child adjusting to new life (and two
houses) after her parents’ divorce. It’s a simple, honest depiction of life for a child who goes
from back and forth between houses and parents. One theme that is central to this story as with
the stories for foster children is the fact that the child is not to blame and there are people who
love him/her, no matter what.
When Do I Go Home?
This is a great book for foster parents (and even children). Part 1 is an actual story of a girl
and her younger brother in foster care and part 2 contains “intervention strategies for foster
parents and helping professionals” with respect to the real-life example. This is a great tool for
foster parents and caseworkers to learn how to deal with certain situations regarding children and
their transition into foster care.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4/1/13
Journal Article:
Newton, R. R., Litrownik, A. J., & Landsverk, J. A. (2000). Children and youth in foster care:
Disentangling the relationship between problem behaviors and number of placements.
This study was focused on a sample of foster children in San Diego varying on the number of
foster placements (during the first 18 months after entry into the foster care system; taken
directly from case records) they have had and uses The Child Behavior Check List to assess each
child and their behavioral problems. Every child had at least one placement and the number of
placement changes ranged from 1 to 15, with an average of 4.23 and a median of 4. The
interesting aspect of this study is that the researchers consider the number of placement changes
as the independent variable and the behavioral problems as the dependent variable rather than
treating the placement changes as results of the child’s disruptive behavior.
 “The results suggest that volatile placement histories contribute negatively to both
internalizing and externalizing behavior of foster children, and that children who
experience numerous changes in placement may be at particularly high risk for these

deleterious effects. Initial externalizing behaviors proved to be the strongest predictor of
placement changes for the entire sample and for a sub-sample of those who initially
evidenced problem behaviors on at least one broad-band CBCL scale. Our findings also
suggest that children who initially score within normal ranges on the CBCL may be
particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of placement breakdowns.”
 “…we argue for an analytical approach that views behavior problems as both a cause and
as a consequence of placement disruption. Children who do not evidence behavior
problems may in fact constitute a neglected population that responds to multiple
disruptions of their primary relationships with increasingly self-defeating behaviors.”
 “Researchers and child welfare workers agree that placement stability is critical for the
success of foster care placement. Once removed from one dangerous or neglectful
environment, a child confronting further disruption through numerous placement failures
is likely to experience difficulties trusting adults or forming attachments with adults and
children.”
 “It is also well known that children entering the foster care system are likely to
experience change in placement, and that some are likely to experience a large number of
such placement changes. For example, Pardeck (1984) found that 22% of children had
three or more placements during a median length of 2.5 years in foster care. Millham,
Bullock, Hosie, and Haak (1986) report that after 2 years in care 56% of children had
three or more placements and Kufeldt, Armstrong, and Dorosh (1989) report that 48% of
children had three or more placements during a median length of stay of 4 years.
According to Palmer (1996) citing the Millham and colleagues (1986) and Kufeldt and
colleagues’ (1989) studies, “some children experienced an unconscionable number of
moves [emphasis added]. In the Millham study 14% had five or more, in the Kufeldt
study 18% had six or more.”
 “…it seems clear that we need to study how parents, foster parents, and social workers,
prepare for and cope with the consequences of placement change for children. We also
need to closely examine how non-symptomatic children manage change interpersonally,
with a view toward developing strategies that minimize the distinctly negative
consequences of multiple placements for many of these children. Measures to prevent
placement disruption, including care in initial placement screening, placement
management over time and early intervention to prevent placement disruption are all
recommended. Early assessment of all children, and careful monitoring of those children
who experience frequent placement disruption, even those who appear resilient, seems
warranted.”
This study is important in that it looks at foster children’s behaviors not as causes of
placement change, but as the results of it. Multiple foster placements are not healthy for children
and it causes children to have difficulty forming trusting relationships and attachments. This is
an important aspect of every foster child’s life and may be alluded to or mentioned in the book in
hopes of helping children learn how to accept change and begin to trust again.
Journal Article:
Tucker, D. J., & MacKenzie, M. J. (2012). Attachment theory and change processes in foster
care. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2208-2219.
This study looks at foster children’s entries and placement changes in Ontario, Canada to test
seven hypotheses created by the authors of the article. They used the data to create “event

histories for each child in the form of a sequence of time periods.” They looked at foster home
exit levels and placement changes by six-month periods.
 “We focus on how caregiving contexts and the nature of their change selects certain
characteristics and behaviors as relevant in explaining a child's risk of placement change
in, or exit from, foster care.”
 “Results strongly support attachment theory as a transactional theory of change.
Placement change not only influences the hazard of exit in the manner predicted but also
engenders a ‘liability of change,’ with early change influencing the likelihood of future
change independent of contextual and child characteristics.”
 “In practice, foster care dynamics seldom yield conditions empirically consistent with the
implications of AT principles. Indeed, evidence of constant-to-increasing duration times
to foster care exit or family reunification indicate that the potentially negative effects for
children of relationship disruption are not sufficiently minimized (Child Welfare
Information Gateway, 2010; Children's Bureau, 2010). Findings also point to extended
duration in care without movement to permanency, and of comparatively frequent
placement changes. Both support an expectation of proportionately higher numbers of
children with behavior problems (Children's Bureau, 2010).”
 “However, the idea of schema-based working models does give a more precise basis for
thinking about how change will affect a child's relationship with its environment.
Specifically, if stable, reproducible schemas are integral to a child's attachment
behavioral system and guide behavior, and if change calls into question the efficacy of
these schemas, change is likely to produce anxiety, defensive exclusion, and defensive
misattribution that interfere with the child's ability to contend constructively with its
immediate environment (Bretherton & Munholland, 1999). Within the foster care system,
these behaviors are likely to prove disruptive, lowering a child's chances of adapting well
to a caring context and increasing the chances of being labeled problematic. This in turn
likely will lower the possibility, or risk, of exiting the foster care system.”
 “It is reasonable that children with secure past attachments are more likely to adapt to the
requirements of a new situation than those with a history of insecure attachments.”
 “Behavioral inertia is indicated when a child's adjustment lags substantially behind the
rate of environmental change.”
 “Caregivers may experience reciprocal effects, increasingly regarding children with
frequent placement changes as inherently unmanageable and unrewarding because of
their behavior and (perceived) limited prospects for regaining positive, adaptive
developmental trajectories.”
 “Applying this self-fulfilling argument to AT as a process theory of change, it is plausible
that, for many children, being taken from their families into foster care is a powerful
rejection experience. It may compound intra-familial rejection experiences that made
child welfare authority action necessary in the first place. Hence, if it is not already
present, it is probable that many foster children start foster care tenure with a heightened
sensitivity to the possibility of rejection. Subsequent placement changes, particularly if
placements are short, likely will be perceived as affirming the necessity for rejection
sensitivity, thereby orienting internal working models of relationships to defensively
expect rejection from others. This augments the probability of confirmatory behavior
from others, and conditions appropriate for the emergence of the self-fulfilling prophecy
described above are put in place.”

This study is similar to the aforementioned study in that it looks at placement change for
foster children and briefly talks about the effect it has on behavior. The main findings are, as
follows: “placement change in foster care decreases a child's risk of exiting foster care,
independent of the effects of other characteristics and conditions…the older the child at the time
of a placement change, the higher the subsequent risk of exit…disruptive effects of placement
change attenuate with length of time since last change, resulting in a higher propensity to exit the
system…the probability of a placement change increases with the number of previous placement
changes…the probability of placement change decreases with the time since the last placement
change…the probability of a placement change increases with the age of the child…[and,] an
early change in placement increases the probability of subsequent placement changes.” As stated
about the previous article, multiple placements prevent secure attachment between the child and
caregiver. This causes a child to act out due to self-fulfilling prophecy, feelings of rejection,
defense mechanisms, and/or the inability to modify existing coping mechanisms. There should
be some mention about learning to trust again in the story.
Story Draft:
“Shawn, it’s time to wake up.” I hear her voice float into my room and I open my eyes,
sleepily, and stare at the ceiling of my room. My room? That’s what they called it: “It’s your own
room, Shawn, all yours.” Mine? I’m not sure yet. “Come on, Shawn, you’ve got to get up. First
day of school!” I can almost hear the smile in her voice.
A new school…again. Great, just great. I hate the ‘first day of school’ feeling. Everyone
wants to know about the new kid and instead of asking you about it, the other kids just gossip to
each other about where I came from and why I’m here half-way through the year. I get dumb
questions and weird looks from all the kids and the teacher always has a bunch of papers for my
‘parents’ to sign. There’s that word again: “parents.” As if I had parents anymore…
This is the third place I’ve been since I was taken away from my mom and step-dad. All
anyone ever tells me is that they were doing some ‘bad things’ and hanging around ‘bad people’.
Like I’m not smart enough to figure out what was really going on…A couple of police officers
came to our house one night and told me I couldn’t live with them anymore, at least, not for a
while. Not until they straightened up and were able to take care of me better. I have a feeling
They probably don’t even care.
“Shawn, I told you to get out of bed five minutes ago! Come on; get a move on, please.”
<<285 words>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4/3/13
Journal Article:
Hegar, R. L., & Rosenthal, J. A. (2009). Kinship care and sibling placement: Child behavior,
family relationships, and school outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 670-
679.
This study looks at positive outcomes of kinship care and/or placement with siblings. This is
an important aspect of foster care for many reasons, including: if a child has a sibling or siblings,
their research shows that being placed with siblings (with whom they share attachment) helps to
decrease internalizing and externalizing problems in children; and children are shown to have
less internalizing and externalizing problems and have more stable and long-lasting placement

when in kinship care rather than non-kinship care. While I don’t plan on having any siblings for
the child in my story and I think I might have this be non-kinship care, this article grabbed my
attention because, not only can these findings have a large impact on children and their foster
care situations, I can relate to it personally.
My family is currently fostering my (3-year-old) second cousin and his (9-year-old) half-
brother, so we are technically involved in both kinship and non-kinship care. I can definitely see
a change in my cousin while being with us in a stable, ordered environment, but not with his
half-brother. I can definitely see where being in kinship care has better outcomes than non-
kinship care, because the child is able to be with people who he/she might already have bonded
with, but I think the aspect of siblings being placed together is something that still needs more
research. We had a bonding assessment done by a licensed psychologist who made an interesting
point relevant to this article and foster children in general. He makes the following statements:
“the single most important relationship for a child is that of himself and his caregiver”, “children
in their developmental years need parents much more than siblings”, “bonding and attachment is
an essential reality which speaks to the relationship between child and caretaker, not between
child and child, not between siblings”, “each child has to be considered separately in light of
their age, individual and personal history and life experiences”, “the idea that all siblings should
be together has no foundation in research or theory without making many and proper
distinctions,” and “the literature does suggest that ‘bonded children should be placed together.’”
I feel strongly about this point because we are fighting for my cousin and his half-brother to
be adopted separately for many reasons. It is important that people in the field of social work and
child welfare not take findings like those in this article and misconstrue them to fit every child’s
needs. Every child has their own personal experiences and needs and it is important to group
every foster child or even those with similar circumstances in one group and assume that what is
best for one is best for all—this is simply not true.
Readings and Reactions:
Where's Home? Ages 8-12
This story is structured as a chapter book and is considered juvenile fiction about foster care.
It is about a kitten (Littleprints) who is taken from his parents along with his “too many…to
count” siblings. This story is definitely aimed at a little older audience because it talks about
their parents fighting (“Once, when Littleprints dared to peek out, he saw blood!”), their mother
leaving, and how their father “collapsed into a furry heap on the filthy floor. A can of catnip was
spilling out next to him.” Their mother comes back and “seeing [them] jumping all over the
place…she hissed as she locked them up in the cupboard with no food and no litterbox.” Their
Mice neighbors see all the terrible things going on (a kittens cutting his paw on glass, the littlest
kitten choking on a marble, nothing but catnip in the refrigerator, and no parents taking care of
them. They write a letter to the Human Society and it sends out their Bear Team who inspects the
house and decides it is not safe for the kittens to live there. And “before any of them could make
sense of what was happening, the kittens were divided up and sent with different Bears to
different homes with different caregivers.” Littleprints was placed with Bucky into a new home.
After two days, they were sent back with Mr. Ted (one of the Bear caseworkers) because Bucky
tried to bite the other kittens. They were sent to another home where the caregiver wanted to
nuzzle them all the time, but they did not like it because they did not know her; Bucky tied her
up with string. Their parents called and arranged to visit them and bring them gifts, but they
never did—eventually they stopped calling altogether. One day, Mr. Ted told Bucky and

Littleprints that he found them a new place to go (it is implied that they had continued to be
moved around until this time). Mr. Ted takes them to the Box Club every Thursday (where they
go to play with other kittens and they see Dr. Lynx and Ms. Jag) and one day, Littleprints sees
Marble (the kitten that he saved from choking on his marble and who he became the closest to).
Bucky ignores her, but she and Littleprints talk about their new homes. They both say that they
like their good, new homes and feel like they belong. Bucky ties up Ma and Pa Cool Cat (their
foster parents) and constantly runs away. Bucky is taken to live with another family and see Ms.
Jag (who appears, like Dr. Lynx, to be a psychologist). Littleprints admits that he would like to
visit Bucky every week but that he is happy he is gone and not hurting him for no reason.
This story goes along with my personal experience that I talked about with the article above.
For similar reasons as in the book, we think it is best for my cousin and half-brother to be
separated. Seeing a book that specifically deals not only with foster care, but also with sibling
separation is interesting. This book can definitely help children who are going through similar
circumstances because it does a very good job of different things that may happen to children in
foster care. Because it is aimed at an older audience, it is able to talk about some things that you
wouldn’t find in a younger child’s book and it is longer, allowing for more explanation. I really
like this book and think it is good resource for older children in foster care.
Are You My Mother?
This book isn’t really about foster care or adoption but it does have a similar theme: losing
(and then being reunited with) a parent. I’m only including this book because it is one of the
most well-known children’s books that has withstood time—everyone knows this book. Even
without the obvious themes of being taken from a parent and being placed in foster care, this
book does show the fear of a child losing a parent (the parent leaving, the child being taken, etc)
and their desperate attempt to find that parent again. Because children have this thought instilled
in them as very young children, they learn that separation is not forever, which may or may not
be true for a child in foster care. It’s hard to say whether books portraying this theme help or
hinder a child’s thoughts and feelings when they are not reunited with their parent(s), but I just
thought I’d mention it since this is a popular children’s book.
Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights (Ages 4-10)
Kids Need to Be Safe: A Book for Children in Foster Care (Ages 4-10)
The star: a story to help young children understand foster care
A Family for Sammy: A story to help explain foster care to young kids
I was unable to find actual copies of these books in the public library, but I just wanted to
point them out as some other children’s books that help explain foster care to young children.
Story Draft:
“Shawn, it’s time to wake up.” I hear her voice float into my room and I open my eyes,
sleepily, and stare at the ceiling of my room. That’s what they called it: “It’s your own room,
Shawn, all yours.” My room? ...I’m not sure yet. “Come on, Shawn, you’ve got to get up. First
day of school!” I can almost hear the smile in her voice.
A new school…again. Great, just great. I hate the ‘first day of school’ feeling. Everyone
wants to know about the new kid and instead of asking you about it, the other kids just gossip to
each other about where I came from and why I’m here half-way through the year. I get dumb

questions and weird looks from all the kids and the teacher always has a bunch of papers for my
‘parents’ to sign. There’s that word again: “parents.” As if I had parents anymore…
This is the third place I’ve been since I was taken away from my mom and step-dad. All
anyone ever tells me is that they were doing some ‘bad things’ and hanging around ‘bad people’.
Like I’m not smart enough to figure out what was really going on…A couple of police officers
came to our house one night and told me I couldn’t live with them anymore, at least, not for a
while. Not until they straightened up and were able to take care of me better. I have a feeling
They probably don’t even care. Nobody does. The first place I went was the group home. There
were lots of other kids there; it was easy to break the rules and not get caught. Then I went to live
with a young girl who was a friend of my mom. She had no idea what she was doing and I could
do almost anything I wanted to—until she would get mad and lock me in my room. I used to
jump off dressers and talk back to her all the time. Everyone blamed it on my ADHD, though.
When she gave me back, she said it was because she couldn’t afford me, but I think it’s because
she could handle me anymore. Now, I’m here…and ‘here’ has rules. Not lots of rules, just rules I
have to follow so I can grow up better…good rules, I guess.
“Shawn, I told you to get out of bed five minutes ago! Come on; get a move on, please.”
-----
When I come home from school, Mike, my foster dad, helps me with my homework.
He’s really smart and lets me take my time figuring out the problems. Sometimes the caseworker
or the Guardian ad Litem comes over to check up on me. They ask me a lot of questions and tell
me things about my parents or what might happen in the future, but I don’t always understand
everything. I used to have a therapist, too. She helped me get out some of my anger or other bad
feelings and helped me get in trouble less often. But, tonight, no one’s coming. Tonight we go to
church.
Mike and Julie go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. Before I came here, I only
ever went on Easter or Christmas with my grandma. I like this church, there’s a class just for kids
that are my age and the pastor’s really nice, too. When I walk into the room tonight, there’s a
question mark on the whiteboard. I find a seat next to my friend Mark.
Pastor Ian stands up to start the sermon, and looks around the room. “Who knows what
will happen to them tomorrow? What about two days from now? Next week? Next month, next
year?” He shrugs his shoulders, “I certainly don’t. And I have a feeling that none of you can tell
the future either. There’s only one person I know that can do that…and that’s God. Jeremiah
29:11 says this, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ I don’t know about you, but if anyone
was going to create my future, I’d sure want it to be God.”
Pastor Ian continues preaching, but all I can think about is the verse he just read. I’ve
never heard this truth before and I’m so wrapped up in it that I only catch bits and pieces of
everything he’s says afterwards.
All the way home, and even while I get ready for bed, all I can thing about is that verse.
God has plans for me? And not just any plans, but good plans, plans that are going to me grow
and thrive, plans to give me a future. I didn’t think I’d ever have much of a future…until I came
here. I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but Julie and Mike really do seem to care about what
happens to me—I even overheard them talking about adoption in the future. They said only if I
wanted it. They would let me choose?

final thesis-draft 8

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