Foster Care and Stress
From Concordia St. Paul:
Children in foster care exposed to traumatic events, such as family disruption and placement in multiple foster homes, experience long-lasting negative effects:
- Brain impairments
- Variations to gene expressions
- Issues with physical growth and development
- Complications forming attachments
- Serious health problems
- Significant mental health conditions
- 20 percent of children in foster care experienced symptoms of PTSD
- Around 90% of foster youth experience trauma
- Foster children are 2.5 times more likely to develop a mental health disorder