Department of Family Services report the abuse some children go through, emotionally or physically. Some of the cases reported are children that suffer from exposure to drugs or prenatal HIV, sometimes even both.
After the correspondent investigations, and if the accusations are proven, these kids are removed from their homes under court. They become wards of the state. In the moment the court and state authorities take part in the case, the family is basically separated. If possible, some of the kids are placed with other family relatives or in foster care, and they must wait until new homes in residential facilities are found.
Spending time at foster homes is quite difficult for children. They are not excluded from abuses in these places either. Recent studies demonstrate that the number of kids enduring abusive situations in their foster homes is constantly increasing. Last year, two brothers from Hillsborough, Florida, who grew up in foster homes, affirmed they suffered physical and sexual abuses several times.
One of the brothers lived in three different foster homes, and affirms he was abused in all of them. The other one claimed his foster parents forced him to sit in his urine for long periods of time, raped him and let him outside the house with no food or water.
Both siblings, who are currently over 21 years old, set a lawsuit against the state Department of Children and Families from the Hillsborough Circuit. They claimed they informed caseworkers about the sodomies they were undergoing, and still nothing was done to help them. There were times when social welfare found new foster homes, but once again, the kids suffered abuses.
The brothers claimed their main concern with this lawsuit is to help children that are facing the same situation. Along with this claim, thousands of lawsuits in favor of children who were victims of abuse in the foster care system have been filed. The problem with these type of denounces is that the litigation processes usually take many years and if so, most of them are dismissed because there is not enough evidence.
Also, the State is not always willing to investigate or check into the foster families. They avoid taking responsibility on these cases, even though it is entirely theirs. Some attorneys have positively filed federal civil rights lawsuits and have achieved great successes against state institutions. It is extremely important these cases are openly denounced, so that many other kids will not undergo the same unfair situations. Stability, love and respect are primordial values that should be present in a responsible growth and care for kids.