Current State of Human Rights in Residential Foster Care Facilities and Its Implications

Abstract

As children in foster care have to date been regarded solely as objects of protection, public attention toward their human rights has remained limited mostly to their right to protection, such as the right to food, clothing, and shelter, to physical and mental health, and to safety. However, as much as the subjects of their lives as other children are of theirs, these children, while living in foster care, must have the rights to live as the masters of their own lives, to engage in activities freely, and to express their thoughts. Ensuring these rights requires enabling the children in residential foster care to exercise their right to self-determination, which is fundamentally the right to freedom. This article presents the findings of a survey we conducted to assess the current state of safeguarding self-determination for children residing in child welfare facilities and discusses policy options for improvement. The survey involved youth in preparation for independent living who had firsthand experience with living in foster care all the way through from placement and entry into the system to exiting it.