Young Children and Foster Care: A Guide for Professionals

Focusing on young children up to age five, this book examines the needs of children and families involved with the child welfare system. It also includes basic information on child development, key concerns for those involved in the child welfare system, and advice by specialists in children's issues, including attorneys, psychologists, and social workers, about issues such as abuse and neglect, foster parent training, feeding, spirituality, and emotional development and attachment. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Speech and Language Development of Young Children in the Child Welfare System

Erica was clinging to her mother, crying mournfully. Even when encouraged to comfort her 11-month-old daughter, Ms. Daniels seemed uncomfortable doing so and was unable to soothe her. Erica was the third child born to this mother who had been a victim of abuse and neglect herself. She had been incarcerated for the death of her first baby. Her second child had disabilities as a result of shaken baby syndrome. Although the child welfare authorities tried to remove Erica at birth from Ms. Daniels's care, a family court judge ruled that Erica should remain with her mother with some supportive services provided to them in their home. To monitor Erica's development, the child welfare worker arranged for an evaluation by a transdisciplinary team.

The speech-language pathologist on the team informally interviewed Ms. Daniels to get a sense of Erica's speech-language development. The speech-language pathologist asked Ms. Daniels: "When you speak to your baby, does she look at your face?" Her response, "I never talk to my baby," was a major concern to the team. For most mothers, talking to their babies is a natural and enjoyable part of caring for them. Mothers use calm, affectionate, soothing tones, often called "motherese" or "caretaker" speech (Bateson, 1975; Snow, 1972) and enjoy the warm interaction that this communication conveys. For Ms. Daniels, however, who likely was not treated warmly as a child, this behavior may have been unfamiliar. What kind of language development is expected under these circumstances? Can more optimal interactions be taught? Most children in the child welfare system are not in such extreme situations, but many of them enter the system because of problems that may affect speech and language development, such as abuse, neglect, prenatal exposure to alcohol and other drugs, and the stress associated with living in poverty. This chapter explores the relationship of factors that predispose a child to enter the child welfare system and their effect on the child's speech and language development. This chapter discusses the implications of speech and language delay/ disorder on the social, emotional, and cognitive development of the child.