ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the structural violence in American foster care systems violates children's federal constitutional rights, and the absence of accountability has led to numerous lawsuits and settlements directed at ceasing and remedying structural violence. Historically in the United States, civil rights litigation has been a powerful force to protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable citizens against an oppressive government system. The framework of structural violence in the areas of placement instability, unnecessary institutionalization, and deprivation of family connections offers a valuable lens for any efforts to drive system change in American foster care. Placement instability occurs whenever a child in foster care experiences a change in his or her household or caregiver which does not result in a permanent placement with the child's family of origin or adoptive family. Placement in congregate care has been correlated with physical effects on children's neural structures, compromising brain development and associated behavioral functioning.
