Myth Monday #4: Kids In Foster Care Move Homes Due to Behavioral Problems

Moving from home to home can be a difficult experience for a young child to go through. Though we do all we can to improve their lives, they still face challenges that non-foster children will never encounter. Unfortunately, due to these challenges, there’s a lot of negative stigma surrounding the mental wellness of foster and adopted youth. Some people think that children enter the foster care system because they’re too troublesome for their biological parents to handle. However, they’re actually placed because their parents are no longer able to take care of them. Kids in foster care are just regular kids; it’s not their fault if their parents aren’t able to care for them as well as they deserve.

One of the most hurtful myths about adoption is that children in foster care have multiple placements due to psychological problems. Inaccurate portrayals of foster care in the media lead people to think that most foster and adopted youth have issues. Sadly, this myth is a major reason why many potential parents choose not to adopt. They’re often afraid that an adopted child would be aggressive, delinquent, or emotionally closed off. Some adopted children may have problems, but there is no evidence that adopted children are more troubled than non-adopted children. In fact, research shows that adoptees are just as well-adjusted as their non-adopted peers. There is virtually no difference in psychological functioning between them.