In most respects, foster children are like any other children. They range in age from newborn babies to teenagers. There may be one child, alone, or two or more siblings.

Like any other children, foster children need love and security. They need interested, dependable adults to guide them and encourage them.

Children in foster care have the same needs and problems as other children, but unfortunately they also have some additional needs and problems. Other children have the security of living in their own homes and knowing their parents love them and want them. They know they are where they belong. Children in foster care do not have this basic security anymore. Like all children, they have a deep love for their own parents, even for parents that have neglected or mistreated them. They may have suffered emotional shock when they were removed from one home and place in another. These children may be quite upset, and fearful of not being wanted. Some children in foster care will soon be able to make a happy adjustment in their new home, but others might have a harder time “settling in”.

Children in foster care, like all other children, will behave in different ways in different situations. Some will express their inner fears by being overly timid and quiet, others may react by having nightmares, bed-wetting or by developing various behavior difficulties.

The bottom line is that children in foster care are like all other children, but they have experienced or are currently experiencing a painful period in their young lives.