A Study of Foster Children in Placement: Specification of the Respective Racial Identification of Children From Three Racial Groups; Negro, Caucasian and Mulatto

Raymond C Zito, Fordham University

Abstract

The writer became involved and interested in the question of race and racial identification during the course of his experience at Angel Guardian Home an agency which provides a full range of child welfare services. Prior to his entrance into graduate school, the writer had been employed at Angel Guardian Home for a period of two years and had a school field work placement at the agency for a year. From this point on, Angel Guardian Home will be referred to as the agency. The agency has three offices; the central office in Brooklyn and branches in Queens and Nassau Counties. The bulk of the writer’s experience has been with the Boarding Department of the agency. This particular department is concerned primarily with the care of children in foster homes. Placement of a child in a foster home may have been necessitated by a wide possible variety of causes. Some of these causes would include marital problems, neglect or physical abuse, mental illness of the natural parent, drug addiction or alcoholism. Any of these problems could necessitate the care of the child away from the home of his natural parents. The writer’s role at the agency-was that of caseworker. This role entailed a concentration upon the child’s development in all areas, his acceptance of his foster child status and relationships with his family, foster family and peers. The ultimate goal for each case would be sufficient rehabilitation of the natural family so that the child could be returned to his home, if such a course of events could be feasible. Casework services involve establishing a relationship with the child, his foster parents and his natural parents for the purpose of evaluating each particular phase of the child’s adjustment in placement and setting up plans for the future welfare of the child. Other aspects of foster care placement could be discussed, but these aspects would not be germane to the purpose of this particular study.

Subject Area

Social work|Mental health

Recommended Citation

Zito, Raymond C, "A Study of Foster Children in Placement: Specification of the Respective Racial Identification of Children From Three Racial Groups; Negro, Caucasian and Mulatto" (1968). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30308761.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30308761

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