Behavioral Challenges Client From Field - 2181 Words

Behavioral Challenges Client from Field The Client is a 17-year-old African American female who was removed from her mother’s care in 2013, and resides in a residential treatment program under the custody of the state. The client currently attends a special education school due to a speech impediment and behavioral disturbances. The client was referred to the screening center on this occasion after running out of the school building and threatening to run out into traffic as a suicide attempt. The client’s teacher mocked her speech impediment in front of the entire class, which triggered aggression and suicidal ideations. The client threw a soda at the teacher, and was put into a physical restraint, but when she was able to break free,†¦show more content†¦Youth who were removed from their families are not only exposed to being separated from caregivers, but there also can be issues concerning physical and emotional trauma, as well as genetic factors that could alter a person’s mood and behav ior (Rutter, 2000). Elevated behavioral issues amongst youth receiving residential care are extremely common and there are multiple studies that identify behavioral difficulties as a primary characteristic (James, Roesch, Zhang, 2011). The behavioral concerns that this population presents with could hinder them from actually being placed, and interfere with successfully discharging from the group home. It should be noted that being of an older age group during admission into the foster care setting, and having history of juvenile delinquency and behavioral disturbances within the first couple of months of living in a residential setting, automatically correlates with unsuccessful discharges (Piotrkowski Baker, 2004). According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, in 2014 there were 415,129 minors in foster care by the end of September and 264,746 minors who entered the foster care system within the fiscal year (UDHHS, 2015). There were 107,918 children wh o were waiting to be adopted at the end of September, 2014 (UDHHS, 2015). Of those children, there were approximately 14,000 of them who entered the foster care system between the ages of 11-17 years old, which gives these children an increased