Sexual Abuse of Children in the United States Foster Care System
By Abigail Hessing
Published Winter 2022
Special thanks to Jamie LeSueur for editing and research contributions
Summary+
Foster care is a long-running and relatively commonplace system in the US; however, in 2019 there were an estimated 400,000 children in foster care, leaving the system overwhelmed and at its peak capacity. 1 Of those children, it is estimated that up to 40% of them had experienced some type of abuse within the system. 2, 3 Looking at sexual abuse specifically, vulnerable children are often targeted by sexual predators, and when grouped together in a system underequipped to provide adequate protection, foster care children can become easily accessible targets for sexual abuse. Caretakers who are undersupported and households that are overfilled create lapses in care, where the majority of sexual abuse can occur. The misidentification of warning signs from guardians and caretakers exacerbates the issue. The lasting effects of sexual abuse for children in foster care have critical implications for their futures, including heightened risk factors for teen pregnancy, drug use, and mental health disorders. Programs created by government agencies and nonprofits have a variety of approaches to attack this issue, but the majority require involvement from community leaders and adults to do additional labor in supporting their foster youth.
Key Takeaways+
Key Terms+
Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)—Unwanted or non-consensual sexual behavior against a minor. This can include touching, kissing, groping, or penetrating a child who is not legally able to consent to such contact. This abuse also includes actions that do not have physical contact, like taking inappropriate pictures of a sexual nature of a child.4
Foster Care—A temporary service provided by a state’s Department of Social Services for children who cannot live with their families.5 These placements may be with relatives or with unrelated foster parents. Placement settings such as group homes, residential care facilities, emergency shelters, and supervised independent living are also part of foster care.6
Foster Homes—A semi-permanent placement or temporary placement for children or young adults whose biological parents are unable to provide legal, financial, or emotional care for their children. Foster homes can be with relatives or registered guardians of the state and are often an actual home with one or two parental figures.7
Group Homes—More restrictive treatment centers or institutions meant for immediate or emergent child placement. They often house many children until adequate placement or medical treatment can be found. In some parts of the country, children can spend months waiting for placement and are placed in boarding school–style group homes for long-term care.8
Emotional Trauma—Damage to someone's mind and emotional well-being because of an event or series of repeated events that cause serious amounts of stress. This trauma causes permanent or semi-permanent changes in a child’s ability to exhibit and process emotions.
Child Protective Services (CPS)—The branch of a state's Department of Social Services tasked with investigating reports of harm or abuse of children and minors. Employees are often assigned as case managers for sibling groups or for an extended period of time based on other circumstances or factors involving the child’s well-being.9
Context
Q: What is childhood sexual abuse and what makes it different from other types of childhood abuse?
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) encompasses any type of sexual interaction with a minor. CSA can occur with or without physical contact between perpetrator and victim. Instances that are considered physical contact may be “penetrative or non-penetrative acts” and include sexual intercourse of any kind.10 Sexual abuse may also include portrayal in child pornograpohy, sexual harassment, and voyerism (watching or looking on sexual acts), which may not require physical contact with the abuser.11, 12 In the United States it is estimated there are 57,329 child victims of sexual abuse each year.13 Sexual abuse of anyone between the ages of 0 and 17 is classified as CSA; in the case of foster care, the majority of individuals within the system fall in that age range.14 Sexual abuse in foster care can be an isolated instance or reocurring abuse in a traumatic cycle.
It is also important to note that sexual abuse and sex trafficking are different. While they both involve non-consensual sexual acts against a victim, sex trafficking adds a commercial or monetary element to the abuse. For more on sex trafficking, see the Ballard Brief titled “Sex Trafficking of Youth in the United States.” For the purposes of this brief, the important relationship to note is that sexual abuse does occur on its own and does not necessarily lead to sex trafficking.15, 16
Q: What is foster care?
Foster care is a temporary service funded by the state and national government that provides out-of-home care for children who cannot live with their parents.17 Children enter this system after Child Protective Services (CPS) removes them from unsafe or potentially harmful circumstances. CPS is a division of social services run by the state. It is a program that works hand-in-hand with foster care to protect children and families.18 The term “foster care” is generally used to refer to any placement setting for children who are not in their homes with their biological parents. This situation may include children being housed with relatives temporarily, being placed in group homes, or being temporarily relocated by the government to any short term or long term out-of-home placements.19 One 2019 foster care report noted that out of 423,997 children in the foster care system, over 46% were in nonrelative placements.20 In this brief, the term “foster care” will be used to reference any out-of-home placement, relative or nonrelative.
Foster care is viewed as a step in the plan to familial reunification, so the service ideally concludes when children are returned to their parents; if that is not possible, the service may also conclude if the children are moved to a long term residency or adoptive placement.21 The average age of foster care entry in the United States is 6.3 years old but ranges from 0 to 18.22
Q: Who is most vulnerable to sexual abuse in foster care settings?
All children, those within and without the foster care system, have a heightened risk for abusive behavior without proper support and emotional monitoring. Children are vulnerable to manipulation and abuse due to their incomplete physical and emotional development. Minors are especially vulnerable if they have experienced prior trauma, as most have in the foster care system.23 In North Carolina, 85% of foster care children in a particular study were found to have experienced trauma prior to entering foster care. These children who have had adverse experiences were at a heightened risk or vulnerability to sexual abuse once inside the foster care system.24 Of the traumatized participants, 52% had previously been exposed to sexual abuse. This statistic is signficant because approximately 50% of individuals who have experienced sexual abuse once are revictimized later in their childhood or adolescence.25
The most recent report to Congress on maltreatment found that race was a significant risk factor in sexual abuse and can also affect maltreatment in fostercare.26 Black children experienced more maltreatment than White children in multiple categories and were also noted to have higher rates of predictors of maltreatment by the NCIS software.27 In 2019, 23% of children in foster care were Black, 21% were Hispanic, and 8% considered multiracial, with 44% of children in foster care identifying as white.28 Age and gender are also predictors for sexual abuse. For instance, 61.4% of CSA occurs in children over the age of 8.29, 30 It is important to note that while CSA does occur for both boys and girls, it disproportionately affects young girls with greater and repeated frequency.31 This is shown by the 24% of females who experienced sexual abuse prior to entering the foster care system (compared to the 7% of their male counterparts) as well as the 19.5% of females who reported experiencing at least one type of sexual abuse while in foster care (compared to the 10.4% of their male peers).32
Q: Who are the perpetrators of sexual abuse against foster care children?
A sexual predator is any person who tries to “obtain sexual favors in a predatory manner.”33 Perpetrators of sexual abuse range from close family members, friends, and community leaders to known pedophiles.34 According to one report, 93% of victims of CSA knew the perpetrator, with 59% of those victims reporting the perpetrator to be a close friend or acquaintance.35 In 2019 there were a reported 525,319 perpetrators of CSA in the United States.36 One report by CPS found that 88% of substantiated child sexual abuse claims were perpetrated by men.37
In the foster care setting specifically, perpetrators of sexual abuse exist inside and outside of the foster home. Specific data about the predators within the foster care system is limited, potentially because children in foster care are considered minors and in the care of the state. Thus, in-depth analysis of their abuse is not widely published for privacy reasons. We do know that some foster parents have been convicted of sexual abuse. In the 2008 New Jersey child maltreatment report, 3.6% of the reported sexual abuse investigated by the state was at the hands of a foster parent.38 Abuse in the foster care system can also come from individuals besides foster parents. In 2019 “other professionals" and "others" were the perpetrators of child maltreatment in 22,397 reports, which made up approximately 3.4% of the total reports from that year.39 Others can include teachers, healthcare workers, neighbors and other individuals that foster children come into contact with in their daily interactions, as cited by the NCANDS reporting system.40
Q: How long has sexual abuse in foster care been going on?
Reports of sexual abuse in the United States predate the Revolutionary War, so it is clear that sexual abuse has been occuring for hundreds of years outside of the foster care system.41 Therefore it can be inferred that sexual abuse and childhood sexual abuse have existed in foster care since the inception of the program.42 Foster care was formally established by the federal government in the Social Security Act of 1935.43 In a compilation study of data from the state of Colorado foster care system, there are reports referencing sexual mistreatment cases from as early as 1976.44 Although 1976 was the first cited date available, CSA has most likely occurred for much longer than available recorded data. While the modern need for and use of the foster care system has increased, reports of abuse and maltreatment have varied and reports of CSA within the system have decreased.45 CSA accounted for 9.5% of reported child maltreatment in 200946 and steadily declined to 8.3% in 201447 and to 7.2% in 2019.48 CSA accounts for less than 10% of isolated abuse recorded in foster care but is still significant for the children who experience this type of abuse.49
Q: Why is this brief focusing on sexual abuse on a national level as opposed to a state level?
In the United States, each state has jurisdiction over the execution of their individual foster care program, albeit while receiving federal aid, submitting to federal audits, and meeting federal guidelines and requirements.50 While each state publishes yearly reports on foster care and abuse findings within, the federal government Bureaus of Child Welfare publishes more in-depth compiled reports, which are the most accurate and direct compilations of CSA data in foster care.51 Though state-to-state data may not resemble the national trends exactly, national data gives a general illustration of the sexual abuse in US foster care systems. For the purpose of this brief, focusing on the United States as a whole gives a better picture of the variety of issues related to sexual abuse in foster care. Similar CSA data and rates exist in other nations at similar developmental levels, including Canada and Australia.52, 53, 54, 55
Contributing Factors
Before discussing contributing factors, it should be noted that child sexual abuse is directly caused by the actions of sexual predators, regardless of victim circumstances. There is no one cause of sex offending or formula to calculate why or how frequently an abuser may choose to commit CSA.56 Sexual abusers often seek for opportunites to exert dominance over another person, and “coercive sexual practices” give them the sense of power or control they seek.57 Only 10% of child sexual abusers are considered pedophiles, who only find release in sexual relations with a child.58 Pedophiles are most likely to surface because of their own childhood trauma, especially sexual abuse from a male authority; it is estimated that up to three-quarters of pedophiles are victims of child molestation or sexual abuse themselves.59
It is also important to note that abusers of foster care children can and do come from a variety of places. In this brief, abusers will be divided into two different categories: (1) foster parents or guardians and (2) others who are not in direct guardianship over foster children. This division helps to differentiate the factors that contribute to sexual abuse within the system, as abuse does not come just from guardians or just from outside the home.
Foster Parents as Perpetrators: Inadequate Government Screening
Screening for potential foster parents is intended to filter out those who intend to harm or may be harmful to children; however this screening is not always effective. In one report from the New Jersey Office of Child Advocacy, they found 36.5% of perpetrators were foster parents in recorded cases of maltreatment.60 In a system that desperately requires homes, government agencies may miss or improperly screen potential foster parents simply for the sake of securing more caretakers. Unfortunately, this urgency may allow unqualified or dangerous individuals into the system.61 In 2019 there were 423,997 children in foster care and 218,927 licensed foster homes.62 The high demand for foster parents is shown by a 2% decline of registered foster homes in the United States during 2020,63 and by the foster parent turnover rate of 30% to 50% nationwide.64, 65
The government chooses caretakers through personal inquiries and submissions. When an application is submitted, each state is required to fulfill federal mandates on criminal background checks, which include checking sex offender lists as well as assault and battery charges.66 After going through background checks and a home study process, applicants are given training and eventually placed with children.67
In the federal guide to background checks, they note that physical assault charges only deny an applicant if the offense is within 5 years.68, 69 Although most states will disqualify applicants with criminal backgrounds, particularly those that pose a concern for the applicant’s ability to care for a foster child, the legislation in some states fails to explicitly disqualify certain offenders. For example, in 29 states the law fails to explicitly disqualify any person who is a registered sex offender.70 In 31 states, the law fails to explicitly disqualify a person formerly convicted for a sex trafficking crime.71 These particular loopholes in legislation fail to stop abusers from entering foster care on a systemic level. It is also common for abusers in foster care to have no history of recorded abuse or prior criminal activity at the time of application. Foster parent applicants can pass the criminal background check without having a healthy outlook on child discipline or treatment. One study screened prospective foster parents for problematic parenting beliefs and found that the prevalence of these beliefs had little significance in disqualifying them for approval and child placement. In this study, 77% of the non-problematic applicants as well as 70% of the problematic applicants had child placements.72 These examples are just some of the issues caused by the need for parents and the lack of follow-through with government screening, overall acting as an inadequate filter to problematic behavior for foster parents.
Other Perpetrators: Undetected Abuse via Neglect from Group Home Parents
Neglect from foster parents can leave foster children vulnerable to sexual abuse from perpetrators outside the home. When foster children are suffering from abuse, neglectful caretakers contribute to the issue by missing “words, expressions, tokens, and even the lack thereof,” which can all signify sexual abuse.73, 74 Other warning signs of sexual abuse may include withdrawal, self-harm, unexplained anger and rebellion, inappropriate sexual behavior or inappropriate lanuguge in a child’s vocabulary.75 Though any foster parent could miss these signals, it is especially easy for group home caretakers to fail to detect warning signs because they are overwhelmed with responsibilities in the general well-being of many children. Children are often placed in group homes if the state cannot find an acceptable foster home for them.76 Nearly 1 child out of every 7 children in the foster care system is in a group home.77 With group homes having and housing 7 to 12 children, guardians are often incapable of simultaneously supervising each of them.78, 79
Group home parents are unable to fully monitor the behavior and actions of each child in the home and, as a result, are unaware of abuse going on behind the scenes. Without consistent monitoring, children may experience sexual abuse caretakers are unaware of. A lack of supervision that occurs in group homes is evidenced by the fact that 15% of maltreatment reported in group homes was categorized as lack of supervision and another 7% as neglect.80
In a group home, caretakers are supported by caseworkers, assigned to each child who checks in and monitors the child or sibling pair. Caseworkers share the responsibility to monitor the emotional and significant behavioral needs of the group home children; however, these caseworkers are not physically in the home and instead make only periodic visits. In the current climate of the system, these case managers are often overworked and unable to adequately monitor each child, which prevents the caseworker from detecting sexual abuse.81
One study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that children in group homes were 28 times more likely to be abused than the traditional child; in a small setting similar to a traditional foster home, the children were only 4 times more likely to be sexually abused than their peers.82 Without close monitoring and consistent communication between a responsible foster parent and a foster child, it is easy for a foster child to be cornered and manipulated by adults or other children and forced to comply with sexual tasks.83 The combination of understaffing and skewed ratios creates a difficulty in keeping contact with already isolated children.84, 85
Other Perpetrators: Undetected Abuse via Misidentification of Warning Signs
Sexual abuse can also be exacerbated when warning signs are dismissed and characteristics or misbehaviors resulting from sexual abuse are attributed to other causes. This can sometimes be called misidentification or misclassification. Misidentification of warning signs may lead to aggravated or additional sexual abuse, where a child is left in an abusive situation because the responsible adults do not treat the warning signs appropriately. One of the biggest signs of sexual abuse is emotional withdrawal; however, emotional withdrawal is common in children that have been through any kind of trauma.86 Many children enter foster care due to some type of trauma including, physical abuse, neglect, or drug abuse or exposure.87 Even the best trained or most attentive caseworkers can miss signals of distress because children that are in foster care are known to be emotionally volatile and use various coping mechanisms that sometimes resemble the behaviors of sexually abused kids.88 Similarly, ill-prepared and under-supported guardians are rarely equipped to detect predatory behavior or signs of abuse, especially when they lack a strong understanding of child development and common trauma reactions.89 According to the 2019 Child Maltreatment report, only 15.7% of reports of child abuse were submitted by guardians or family.90 These low rates of reporting are significant as guardians may be missing or unable to detect this abuse occurring to children they care for.
Another large issue within the misidentification is that approximately 30% of children who enter foster care have previously been sexually abused,91 so when those children show signs of current sexual abuse it can be incorrectly associated with prior trauma.92 Nearly all children in foster care exhibit nervous or avoidant characteristics, as it is uncommon to find a child without any type of trauma in the system. These characteristics are heightened in children who have been sexually abused.93 In another case study the researchers noted that a connection built on trust and understanding is often the only way to uncover information about prior or continued abuse.94 These relationships are especially difficult to develop among foster care children, since many of them have complex relationships or poor attachment styles.95
Risk Factor for Children: Emotional Distress from Displacement
The emotional distress of physical displacement, along with separation from family and friends, can make children in foster care more vulnerable to sexual abuse.96 Sexual predators look for easy targets, and emotional vulnerability makes a child an easy target. One study suggests that many victims of childhood CSA were victims of opportunity, when they lived in non-biological family units or were even immersed in volatile relationship dynamics in the home.97 In a study of prisoners convicted for sex crimes, the convicts mentioned that they purposely targeted “children who do not have many friends and who appear to lack confidence, to have low self-esteem, and to be unhappy and emotionally needy.”98 Since 80% of children in foster care are suspected to have severe mental and emotional health issues (compared to the 12% national average), foster care children have a heightened risk for becoming victims of sexual predators.99
The process of physical displacement, packing up belongings and leaving home, can cause intense emotional distress for foster care children.100 One study illustrates the way recurring physical displacement in moving between foster homes (i.e., multiple placements or reassignments) causes mental and emotional vulnerability. Researchers found that children who had been in more than two placements were more likely to develop and be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder (31.2%) than children involved in only one move (5%).101 These children who went through multiple moves were noted to have significant emotional challenges and struggled to cope with uncertainty about their future.102 Children with diagnosed psychiatric issues are placed at a disadvantage towards predatory behavior, especially when stripped of additional support systems like many foster care children are.
Physical isolation from foster children’s established support networks also means that these children are often emotionally needy.103 Nearly 46% of children in foster care are in non-relative placements. These children may be considered more vulnerable compared to a child in a biological family due to the bonds and permanency of the family unit.104 During the transition to long term and semi permanent care, children may be separated from siblings due to issues with availability of spots in transitory homes.105 Science in the last 10 years has shown that in cases where siblings stayed together, the children developed more emotional relationships and had less problems gaining self worth and confidence in new situations.106 Strong relationships allow for children to stay connected and gain a sense of trust. However, siblings that are separated often experience feelings of loss and struggle to build relationships with other children. They may also struggle to have a positive self-image through adolescence.107 The loss of support networks and ultimate increase of emotional vulnerability lead to children being targeted and abused in the foster care system.
Consequences
Behavioral Problems
One of the most recognized negative consequences of sexual abuse on foster children is the development of severe physical and behavioral problems. The intense nature of sexual abuse causes chemical reactions in the brain, promoting a hypersexuality and ultimately changing a victim’s behavior and response to stimulants in their environment.108, 109 This behavior change can cause sexually abused children to react with modified versions or reenactments of their own experiences.110 The most common behaviors include inappropriate or sexual touching and or language with children both the same age or much younger, as well as sexually aggressive behaviors.111
Up to 90% of sexually abused teens admitted to instigating violent behavior.112 In a study conducted by the National Institute of Health, researchers found that one cause of sexually aggressive behavior in children was prior sexual abuse. Of the participants in the study that had inappropriately exposed themselves in a sexual manner in an educational or otherwise socially inappropriate setting, over 81% had been victims of sexual abuse.113
Children who have experienced abuse are often noted to have disruptive and destructive behavioral tendencies, most notably inside the classroom.114 In a study conducted to understand behavioral patterns among foster care children, researchers noted that 34% of children surveyed had a behavior issue in the classroom, regardless of how many times they had been in foster care or if they had a documented history of abuse.115 Due to the feelings of inadequacy, already emotionally imbalanced children may lash out either aggressively or in attention-seeking patterns as a form of emotional self regulation. The pattern has the potential to create lasting behavioral damage into adulthood.116
Mental and Emotional Health Issues
Sexual abuse in foster care leads to the development of mental disorders and lasting socio-emotional issues. Young girls who have experienced sexual abuse are often diagnosed with eating disorders, poor self-image, self-harm, and multiple personality or dissociative disorders.117 These disorders are less common in their sexually abused male peers, who instead tend to develop anger and emotional regulation issues or other manic disorders.118 The severity of these disorders caused by the sexual abuse is directly linked to multiple factors, including the familiarity and closeness of the abuser, the frequency of the abuse, and the length of time until the abuse was acknowledged.119
Children in foster care are already diagnosed at a higher rate with childhood depression even without the trauma of sexual abuse.120 One study found that 23.6% of children in or adopted from foster care were diagnosed with depression compared to the 2.5% in a biological two parent home.121 These rates increase in children with a history of sexual abuse within the foster care system.122 Managing these disorders requires consistent and stable support systems—something that many children in foster care do not have, which in turn worsens the effects of the compiled trauma.
Socio-emotional health of children who have experienced sexual abuse in foster care can also be tracked through their ability to form lasting relationships and build secure attachment.123 When children or adolescents attempt to form connections, they can struggle to maintain them if their ability to trust others or themselves is impaired.124 Sexual abuse is one of the many truamas that can cause these trust and attachment issues. One study found that in romantic relationships young women with a history of sexual abuse may have lasting emotional scars, often lashing out aggresively in response to triggering behaviors or displaying defensive attitutdes towards other female counterparts as a form of protection.125 Emotional and mental health issues that disrupt forming healthy attachment can pose problems long after childhood and adolescence and disrupt a victim's ability to heal from trauma.
Adult Legal and Lifestyle Implications
Children who experience CSA may be more likely to engage in or be involved in emotionally or legally destructive practices later in life. Emotionally destructive practices may include any form of prostitution, sex work (consensual or nonconsensual), or risky sexual behavior.126 If a child has been exposed to sexual abuse, he or she is more likely to participate in transactional sex (or prostituion) regardless of consent when he or she is older.127 In a longitudinal study of current and ex-foster care participants they found that 5.0% of their 19-year-old participants had engaged in some form of transactional sex.128 CSA can increase the likelihood that an adult participates in unprotected or irresponsible sexual relations, sometimes leading to pregnancy.129 Ultimately, children in foster care who have experienced sexual abuse are 1.59 times more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors than those who have not been sexually abused.130
Likewise, legally destructive practices may include juvenile delinquency, leading to elevated high school dropout rates, early entrance to juvenile detention, or drug use or addiction. Foster children may already have a higher likelihood of juvenile delinquency than their non-foster peers because of the elevated risk factors associated with their circumstances. Some risk factors for delinquency that foster care children experience include living in a broken home and being separated from parents.131 Experiencing neglect, abuse, or maltreatment is also a risk factor for delinquency, implying that sexually abused foster children have an added risk for future delinquency.132 Studies also suggest that these kids are more likely to become high school dropouts and/or be placed in early juvenile incarceration.133 If these patterns are established before adulthood it almost always leads to legal troubles and occasions of adult incarceration.134 In one study, researchers found that over 65.7% of incarcerated women had experienced sexual abuse before adulthood.135 Drug use and drug abuse can also be tied to sexual abuse during childhood. This correlation may be due to the feelings of escapism abused children seek or the physical chemical changes that occur in the brain from trauma in childhood. These effects of sexual abuse compound with the fact that many children in foster care are also biologically predisposed to addiction based on familial history.136 For foster care children and former foster care children, negative experiences of sexual abuse can impact more than superficial behaviors, and can in fact lead to struggles in adulthood.
Practices
Community Training
Courses created to teach adults not only to identify but also to effectively intervene in sexual abuse situations are one of the best ways to stop sexual abuse from occurring. These courses focus on vigilant training of adults in communities and those in positions of direct communication with its children.137 Programs that teach adults how to spot CSA without the child having to voluntarily come forward can prevent future abuse for all children, especially those in the foster care system. This form of training accommodates for discomfort a child may feel expressing their fears to authority figures and also accounts for children who require space and time to express emotion in an outlet outside of the home.138 Furthermore, creating an environment where adults are adequately prepared to support healthy behavioral reform promotes the idea that children can trust and learn to effectively deal with emotions, eventually preventing additional sexual trauma as well as promoting holistic and healthy healing.139 The practice of community training is promoted in schools and community centers and is for parents or community leaders who aim to stop childhood sexual abuse. CSA prevention courses are prevalent and similar throughout the United States as well as the world, but they may each differ in actual execution. One organization in North Carolina, Darkness to Light, offers in person and online courses in a lecture format.140 These trainings are usually purchased by an organization or individuals where they listen to stories from sexual abuse survivors, researchers, and educators on the signs of sexual abuse.141, 142 Darkness to Light is funded by nonprofits and donor support.143
These practices have many positive effects for both children and guardians, and a lasting effect on the communities they are introduced into. Foster families equipped to handle mental or behavioral issues caused by sexual abuse are more likely to have long term placements, meaning they can develop stronger relationships, allowing children to heal and preventing additional trauma from displacement or opportunities for abuse. Children who encounter adults who are trained to recognize and prevent abuse are more likely to receive adequate and timely treatment compared to their counterparts.144
In a study conducted in 2015 to evaluate the relevance and importance of the community trainings by the Texas Teachers Association, they found that in the year following training, educators increased their reports of child sexual abuse to authorities by 283% as compared with career averaged reports in the year prior to training.145 Through analyzing data from the Department of Family Protective Services from 2011 to 2015, they also found that following the training, educators increased their reports of cases of previously unrecognized abuse.146
Although community trainings may help adults recognize and report sexual abuse, a rise in reported sexual assaults may not directly reduce sexual assault from occuring. Causation of sexual abuse especially in foster care is based on vulnerability, something adults removed from the home or situation may be unable to prevent. It is also important that communites have adults that are trained to identify sexual abuse while also having trainings that work to empower children. All trainings should focus on using evidence to empower their participants, especially children, so they can work to identify their emotions even in a compromised emotional state.147
Preferred Citation: Abigail Hessing. “Sexual Abuse of Children in the United States Foster Care System” Ballard Brief. February 2022. www.ballardbrief.org.
Viewpoints published by Ballard Brief are not necessarily endorsed by BYU or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
