"Grace" Seems an interesting title.
In a Christian sense, it is the "free and unmerited favor of God" but I'm not certain that any child in any of these articles found themselves to be a child of "favor."
This week, we are practicing a different skill.
This is reader-response criticism. You need to acknowledge and analyze the argument presented in the article you chose to read. Tell me where you found a thesis, what the author's message is, and what readers are to take away from these articles. Next, you need to respond in a human way. The connections you make with any part of either of these articles is valid, and it is your job to prove how. If you have a grandparent much like Paul, if you know someone in Foster-Care, if you have political ideas about how to change or manage the system, if you have facts and figures and research you'd like to share, if you know someone who has dedicated their lives to saving children...........anything of this nature, is valid and worthy, and your job is to write about those connections.
It needs to be a personal, insightful, and well - thought - out piece of writing. Length? I don't know, long enough to be clear and precise? 12 - 15 sentences.
Write well.
Be thoughtful.
Your writing assignment is due on Sunday October 16th by 1156 pm......... =)
Dominic B.
ReplyDeleteThe author of "The Crisis of Foster Care," Timothy Roche is arguing that the foster care system broken. He argues that many kids in foster care end up in situations that are worse than if they were with their families. I can connect to this article because I know what it feels like to be in foster care. I have been mistreated while in a foster home. I was heart-broken because it made me question what it would be like to have parents, because I don't have that. It is especially hard to be in houses with people who have their own kids, because they treat foster kids like they are not their kids. It makes me sad to read about kids who have been horribly mistreated like the kids in the article, and even though I have been in situations that weren't the best I was never tortured or abused. The system could improve if there were more adoptions, or the system worked harder to get kids back with their families. I know a man who has dedicated his life to helping kids. He was one of the foster parents I lived with. Another foster kid caused him to get his license taken away, which is sad because he helped a lot of people.
Timothy Roche, author of The Crisis of Foster Care, believes that “Neglect and quagmire of child-swallowing bureaucracies plague the system. And the incidence of neglect, physical and sexual abuse of children in the various foster-care systems is feared to be significantly higher than the incidence in the general population.” The author’s message is that the foster care system is extremely messy and screwed up and needs to stop being overlooked. Too many children are dying and being glanced over because they system is not organized and is not placing them in safe and protective homes. It is astounding that 7,500 children are tortured under this form of government “protection,” when they should be safer since they have been taken out of the hands of family members that were dangerous. Readers should feel empathetic and saddened by how twisted the foster care system is, and I know that I personally was extremely shocked at how horrible some of the cases were and how preventable they could have been. I think that the system first off needs to be better organized. Maybe it requires more funding and sponsorship, but the system by now should be updated and files for children should be easily accessible, organized, and protected. More thorough background checks and frequent check ins with foster parents, families, and homes would possibly prevent the abuse that may occur. I think that adoption is probably the best solution. Through reforming the system, the price of adoption could decrease so that it is more feasible for families and foster parents. If a child is adopted into a safe family that has been checked and is checked upon frequently, they have far better chances of not being abused or neglected since they aren’t being passed around from home to home.
ReplyDeleteMiguel B.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Grace by Vickie L. Sears it reminds me of another book I've read called war child. The distrust of new people picking you up and taking you away somewhere and telling you your their children is common. Unfortunately sometimes these people lie and that's something we have to live with. Now this story is very heartbreaking but it carry's reality. I don't know very much of what it's like to be in foster car, I have family and friends who are in foster care but I don't pry. Not because I think it will bother them, it's mainly because there's no point in me or anyone for that matter to bring it up. Unless they themselves are in foster care or has lived in foster care. The ending is a little upsetting when it seems they have found somewhere to stay and the state comes and picks them up. It makes one think though.
Evie
ReplyDeleteThe argument at hand in The Crisis of Foster Care, by Timothy Roche, is whether or not the foster care system for kids is corrupt in many different states. The thesis presented was that these kids in the system are America’s generation of lost children. The author believes that the ‘system’, if you can even call it that, does not work. Many things can be taken away by the reader, because it opened my eyes personally to the ways of the system. For example, in the article it states that president Clinton, during that time, boasted about how many kids they were getting out of foster care and into so called ‘good’ homes. However, what the people and I did not know was that nearly 7,500 of them were physically, emotionally, or sexually abused due to not even attention on the agency’s parts. The government was so corrupt that they would take kids out of their parent’s care just for not paying one simple bill. Also making sure to call the parents unfit and therefore giving their child to someone even more unfit to keep them. The first thing that I would do to change the system would be to run background checks on the people in charge and find out where their money is going. If they are not up to par, then they will be fired or have other consequences depending on the severity of lying. Next, I would develop a training program for each and every employee or volunteer to go through. There would also be an organized checklist for each child when they are being adopted, or placed in someone’s care. The checklist would include background checks, frequent check-ins, and also check-ins with neighbors to make sure things are going okay. If something happens to the child and the checklist is not followed, then whoever was supposed to go through the checklist will also be charged with whatever happened to the child. This should ultimately keep things in order and in good stance, because then people will recognize that a child’s life is in their hands.
Evan Arnold
ReplyDeleteThe article "The Crisis Of Foster Care" by Timothy Roche, is hard hitting and tragic. The point of the article is to tell you about the death and suffering of children in foster care. I believe the thesis to the article is, "Untimely death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system." He explains the corruption of foster care and how they don't give in depth background checks on the adults who run a foster house and on those who adopt. It was unbelievable how many children were beaten and killed. It showed how they let such evil people into foster care and hardly checked up on them. I was angered how the government made these things worse for children and even when Clinton tried to stop this, nothing changed. Just taking away kids from their family will cause them to suffer along with these problems. I think people need much greater background checks on all sides. Social workers should be taught better a spotting problems and should check up on these children every few weeks. The foster houses need to be inspected for dangers and make sure they are kept to better standards. Foster families need to show that they know how and have the ability to care for children in the correct way. Children should be monitored for mental and physical problems. They need to be able to make sure a family is perfect for a children and that the child is perfect for them. Troubled kids should have their own hospitals and detention centers that are also checked regularly. This article did fail to point out the good things in foster care. They focused on all these bad people and not on good people who do the right things in foster care. These good people should be the base for how foster care should be.
Makinsey Pladsen
ReplyDeleteAs I read the article "The Crisis of Foster Care", it hit me that the foster care system is really serious, and could be dangerous. “Neglect and quagmire of child-swallowing bureaucracies plague the system. And the incidence of neglect, physical and sexual abuse of children in the various foster-care systems is feared to be significantly higher than the incidence in the general population.” The Author is stating here that the system is pretty much messed up. People think the foster system is great but in reality, it is not. "A yearlong investigation by Time has found the crisis mounting in at least 20 states as lawyers file class actions asking judges to take control..." It is so crazy that foster care is really a big deal in at least 20 states, possibly more. The fact that people can torture these kids, after what they have possibly been through before they went into the system. It disgust me that all of this still happens to this day. Also, the amount of kids that are tortured under what is government protected. This just shows that the government does not really do anything about it. Foster families are families who comfort the kids and make them feel special again in a way that they possibly never felt with their biological parents. I also noticed in this article that they only pointed out the bad, but knowing someone in the Foster Care system, she was treated great. They failed to state anything on the good side of the foster care system.
Jackson Curtis
ReplyDeleteThe short story "Grace" ends with the line:
"And that's the way it was". I believe that this was the authors thesis. The neutrality of the statement is gripping to the reader, because these kids had finally found a functional family that wouldn't touch them or torture them, only to have the family ripped away from them so easily. This statement implies that this is the way of life for many children of orphanages, and that they are almost used to it in a sense.
The author's use of the innocent kids "playing Huck Finn" is commentary on how they have achieved the American dream, as in Huck Finn the dream was alive. However the dream is stripped from them. The message of this story applies greatly to my views on the orphanage and adoption systems. I believe that we should take action against not only the orphanages, but the concept that children can be returned if the government doesn't deem the parent worthy enough to care for them. I agree if the orphans are being abused then perhaps it is better to send them back, with the hopes of someone new and better to adopt them (Which you shouldn't give people children if they have a history of abuse anyway), but if there is a parent that has given the children a new start, and truly a better life, (such as the character grace) then the children should not be returned to the orphanages, especially if the parent claims to be able to care for them.
Niq c.
ReplyDeleteThe crisis of Foster care was a great article that argued the corruption of the foster care system. "Untimely death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system. But there are living hells, and at times you can smell the brimestone a long way off". Roche presented a thorough argument over the injustices of foster care. He does an amazing job of presenting evidence and persuading the audience to belive his message. After reading this it really opened my eyes to the hardships and violence of foster-care. My friend Noah, with whom I went to private school with, was adopted fron a foster care as a young boy. His mom is a very sweet and kind lady so I never thought people who adopted kids could be so crule. I was shocked when I read the first bit about Terrel Petersen, a little boy, age six, who was always tied down and eventually beat to death by his foster grandmother. Thats outrageous! The foster care system is so simple that it allows people like this to abuse and murder whichever child they choose!! More individuals as well as government agencies and officials need to get involved in controling the foster care system and make routine weekly, even daily checkups on foster kids until their absolutly sure that that child is in good hands. Foster care gets larger and larger every year and if something isnt done about the freedom and simplicity of the system then more and more kids are going to suffer from imense torture, pain, and death.
Grant McGrail
ReplyDeleteIn the article "The Crisis of Foster Care" there are many points presented, but one point stood out the most. The authors purpos for writing this article is to root out the corruption in Foster care and help to show that it is broken. His thesis states, "Ultimately death is often the only occasion to catch a glimpse of the foster care system." Here Timothy Roche, the author of the article is stating that the only way these foster childerens pain and suffering is noticed, is when they die. The authors purpose for writing this article is to open people's eyes on these children's suffering and to help bring about change. Roche's goal was to convey a message to the fact that the government is so corrupt that they fail to see the flaws in foster care. The primary problem with the foster care system is that these foster families get pay raises and bonuses for fostering children. This would normally sound like a good thing but the families are not monitored enough on what they spend this money and other things on. They use it for themselves and neglect their foster children. The only way to fix this is get a case to the Supreme Court and have a law passed for more regulation on foster families. They should be held accountable for their foster kids' health and well being. If they fail to do this then legal action should be taken and the foster children removed from that families so called "care". To root out the corruption we all need to stand up and say enough. Every voice that stands up can be enough to cause a tidal wave of change in the system.
"The Crisis of Foster Care"' by Timothy Roche really is heartbreaking. I never really thought much of the foster care system because I've never been a part of it. Although I do jump from house to house and I'm fostered by other family members, I have never dealt with or heard of something so excruciatingly painful. This article was definitely hard to read. I had always thought the foster care system was a good thing because I thought they we're helping people but according to this article, thats not the case. I think the thesis for this article would be, "Ultimately death is often the only occasion to catch a glimpse of the foster care system." I think that particular quote is the thesis because that's what the entire article is about. It suppose to inform people who don't know about the bad parts of foster care that can it be deadly. It really is sad that some of us can't see the terrors of some foster parents until a child dies. It breaks my heart to realize that I'm am so self conscious of myself but never the world around me. I had no idea children were dying from this. This article is an eye opener for me and so many others.
ReplyDeleteI read “The Crisis of Foster Care” by Timothy Roche. As i read i understood what the author was trying to communicate, but it wasn’t until the end where i found what i believe to be the thesis, “The bounty is paid when the adoption is finalized, so there is an incentive to place a child with little concern whether the placement will really last,” (Roche 82). I believe the reader is meant to finish this article with a more insightful look at the foster care system and the horrors many children face as they enter and leave it, often without a second glance. The readers are meant to not only read this but to really consider what needs to be done to improve the system and what needs to change, as well as understand there are many kids experiencing a much harder life than them. I for one, often catch myself complaining or joking about how hard i have it, from lack of a video games, too much homework, or “needing” the latest technology; this has been a huge eye opener for me. I sit here dreaming about steak dinners, computer parts, a successful life, and the next Netflix binge, but these kids, they can't even fathom this kind of life, they think that this is what the rest of their life is. Too often we disregard what's unseen or we turn a blind eye to the ugly, when in all reality we should expose it, shine a light on it, and do everything in our power to change it. My best friend has his mind set on adopting children just like the rest of his family has, uncles, aunts, ect. This is quite valid as he’s extremely intentional when it comes to making connections and understanding individuals. When you adopt you don’t have a shopping list or a catalog of children like merchandise; you look for one that touches your heart, you feel a calling to this child, and Josh (my friend) has gone out of his way to begin preparing himself to connect and love a child that biologically, is not his.
ReplyDeleteIn the article " The Crisis of Foster Care," many different stories are told of foster care assistance. The stories told are of the bad side of the foster care system and how it isn't always a relief for the kids to have a "better family." The governments of each state are paid for each child they put in a new home, so they don't truly care if it is a good one or not. "The bounty is paid when the adoption is finalized, so there is an incentive to place a child with little concern about whether the placement will really last." This quote form Richard Wexler brings up a point that the government may rather place a child in another bad home because they can put the child in another spot to just collect more money from the move. The author's message is that the foster care and adoption system aren't working at all and need to be changed for the sake of the children. The readers should take away that this problem with the way the government dealing with the children in foster care isn't working and needs a major overhaul. The connection I can make with the situations these kids are going through are almost polar opposites. I dread going to work after a day of school, but these children don't want to go home because they may be beaten and starved. On top of that, I know what parents should be like, whereas some children may not have any clue that other parents aren't like theirs. The only solution may be trying to notice these problems sooner and treat them differently than we currently are. More resources should be put towards these efforts of researching the parents and making sure they don't have a history of violence. Overall, more caution should be put towards placing children in new homes.
ReplyDeleteThe article "The Crisis of Foster Care" by Timothy Roche is really eye opening and makes my heart break. I never really thought much of foster care until last year when my mom started to work with them. I volunteer at a CASA center, which is basically a place where foster kids go to spend time with their real parents. I have seen so many messed up stories. This article was difficult to read but was very good. Most people think foster care is a good thing but that's not always the case. A line that really stood out to me was, "Untimely death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system." Most people in today's society just thinks about themselves and those that they are close to. For me, I know I'm very fortunate. Foster care is a dangerous thing, but its also good. It just depends on the foster parents. Some of them are really great with kids and do it because they enjoy helping them. Others just do it for money or other reasons that are not why they should even be doing it. Like I said earlier, I didn't think about this until my mom started to help with it. Then I saw first hand the good and bad things about foster care. This article was still eye opening. It really just makes me grateful for the life I have. Honestly there needs to be more awareness of this type of stuff. I'm sure if more people knew about this we could change it or fix this.
ReplyDeletePeyton Schendt
ReplyDeleteThe article "The Crisis of Foster Care" really hits you hard. Timothy Roche's purpose of the article was to inform the readers about what goes on inside the foster care system and hope to make a change. My best friend growing up had a little cousin who was put in a foster home after her mom chose drugs over her. Luckily in her situation she was placed in an awesome until her older sister adopted her. "Untimely death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system." This statement explains just how corrupt the system and how the government doesn't actually care about the well-being of the children. Whether the system needs more funds or help, it is unorganized and not in the right mind set to raise scared children.
Timothy Roche, the author of " The crisis of Foster care talks about the neglect of the children along with sexual and physical abuse. The authors purpose of the article was to make us aware on how messed up and screwed up foster care programs are. So many of the kids in foster care are dying because they are being just looked upon. Kids need to be put in safe and protective homes and environment rather than homes where they are suffering. Children are being treated the same way they when taken out o there house hold because it was to dangerous. Us readers should feel guilt and sadness on how messed up these foster care programs are. Personally I was shocked at some of the awful cases there was. For the future I think foster care programs need to be a lot more organized and structures for the better of the kids. The programs need to be more envolved with the kids and the families they are with. Backgrounds check to see what kid fits best with what family rather than throwing them into a new one. The programs need to to regular check Ins on both the kids and the family.
ReplyDeleteI felt absolutely disgusted after reading “The Crisis of Foster Care”. Before reading, I figured that the foster care system was a good thing for all children but that is obviously not the case. In the thesis Timothy Roche states “Untimely death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system.” The public doesn’t notice what is going on with these children until it is too late to save them. Behind the scenes, they are tortured, abused, and neglected. “The child was six years old. He weighed only 29 lbs.” The foster parents do it because they get money out of it. They get pay raises and bonuses to help fund the children, but how it is spent is not monitored. The kids then get pushed back into the grim shadow of greed. Roche is trying to open the public’s eyes and show that the foster care system is extremely corrupted and needs to change. People need to speak out against the system and demand change.
ReplyDelete"The Crisis of Foster Care" gave a really hard hitting and insightful look into the world of the foster care systems. The purpose of the article was to show reality of the lives some children in foster care are forced to live. They are neglected, abused and the public doesn't even notice it. Children in foster care systems are removed from their homes due to circumstances such as these and it's heart breaking that their only other option is to have to live in systems like these where it really isn't any different from their previous living environments. There should be more community or government effort to better these systems and fix the injustice that these children are forced to face.
ReplyDeleteThe article "The crisis of foster care" by Timothy Roche, argues on that foster care is broken now a days. In the thesis Roche states " untimely death is oftne the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster-care system". Kids that go through foster care often come across abuse, negleect and many other things, and these are the things the public does not see. The author is trying to get the publics attention to show that the foster care system is currupted in many different ways.
ReplyDeleteafter reading the short story "grace" I found out that the foster care system is not a safe place for children to stay in. the writer of this story is trying to show that after a child has been abused and sexually harassed that when they find people that want to treat them like they should be treated its hard for them to trust them and it takes time, and when they find that trust that it can come to an end in a second. the thesis in this story is "and that's the way it is." my grandfather on my moms side is racist well was racist (hes warmed up to us now it only took 15 years), but when I was growing up and going to see that side of the family he never said a word to me or my brother always gave us dirty looks and never showed us respect. my grandfather on my dads side was the total opposite he was always excited to see me and wanted to show me new things to get into and wanted me to succeed in life. I always trusted my him and felt safe with him, but my moms dad I never wanted to be around him I felt like I had a target on my back. that's why my brother and I always had each others back and never let anything happen to us when we went to visit that side of the family.
ReplyDeleteAs i read "The Crisis of Foster Care" i didn't know how to feel about the information that i was comprehending. You don't think about how cruel the foster care system is because it is portrayed as great care for all the kids abandoned in the world that go to good homes. But what people don't see is the harsh and disturbing things that happen with these kids emotionally. For a kid to go from home to home and feel like they are being loved by a family, to only be given back to the foster home only because the family was greedy puts big emotional toll on a child's heart. Some kids even end up thinking that death is the only option left for them because there's nothing for them to live for anymore. If that's not the case then some are even tortured and neglected without hesitation. What the author Rouche is trying to get at, is that the foster care system has more than meets the eye. There's many problems that aren't shown in public commercials or brochures and such, just the happy go lucky "come adopt a wonderful child" slogan. There's no way to stop what is going on without change or a fight back against the system. Without that it's a repetition process with different kids all throughout time even to this day.
ReplyDeleteHyrum Stephen
ReplyDeleteIn the short story Grace by Vickie L. Sears,we as readers were allowed to glimpse into the horrible reality that many people face. Due to the tough themes faced in this short story I believe the thesis is: "Seems like you don't ever get things just because you want them so it's better not to ask"(Sears 281). I believe this is the case because this thought is cyclical and retraced at the beginning and end. This is a thesis reminiscent of something Huckleberry Finn might have said. Thusly it is fitting that these deprived children were "playing Huckleberry Finn" (Sears 296). These children were not well educated and as such it is unlikely that they knew who Huckleberry Finn was much less what he meant. Sears was effectively pointing out that these children had discovered the American Dream. But because they were not a part of the dominant culture,they could not have this dream and it had to be ripped from them. When Paul died all the Grace that these children, who were so damaged by abuse, needed was gone.
In "The crisis of foster care " by Timothy Roche, we learn the harsh obstacles that foster kids endure throughout foster care. The main intention of this article was to get people to realize what is actually going on in foster care. The kids in foster care are left to struggle and they are left to provide for themselves , sometimes are also physically and emotionally abused. But yet the public seems to go unnoticed on this issue. This article informs readers about this issue and help citizens realize that although foster care gives kids in troubled homes a place to stay, the homes that they do stay in aren't always any much better.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “ The Crisis of Foster Care” author Timothy Roche unveils the harsh stories of some of the children living within the foster care system. Roche discovers that although the foster care system can be a wonderful gift it has another side that nobody talks about. He presents the reader with several horror stories about some of the children who were so unfortunately given away and forgotten about. Timothys states the thesis of the article holding nothing back "Ultimately death is often the only occasion to catch a glimpse of the foster care system." For the children mentioned in this article the only attention they ever got was when they were already dead. Several times Timothy says the system is so clearly flawed and needs to be updated. He mentions the lack of motivation the workers have to help the kids that so desperately need attention. Seeing these cases so abruptly forgotten about reminds me of all the times my mom has told us stories from when she worked to improve the lives of kids that had been abused or at a disadvantage. When me and my brother were feeling sorry for ourselves she would tell us the story of the kids she used to work with and everything that they went through. She did this for the sole purpose of humbling us. Although I have never worked exclusively with children in the foster care system, getting to see a glimpse of those children's lives is something that I cherish and think about from time to time when everything seems to be going wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe article "The Crisis Of Foster Care" really hit me on a human level. The author does a good job of painting a horrific picture of all the terrible things "the system" is allowing foster parents to get away with. The author also wants change and if that doesn't start with the reader, he/she hopes to inform to at least start somewhere. The thesis is stated by Timothy Roche "ultimately death is often the only occasion for the public to catch a glimpse of the foster care system". I had never heard about negative experiences with foster care to the extreme like the cases presented in this story. I've only been exposed to the "nice" side of foster care on shows like The Fosters or basically any ABC show on prime time tv. Honestly I can say it made me want to adopt or help with foster kids when I'm older just to be another good gal so that we outnumber the bad guys who are doing these terrible things to children. The piece actually made me(a 17 y/o priveledged, lazy female) want to help out. I'd say that's getting her message across!
ReplyDeleteAs I read "the crisis of foster care" I realized how big of a problem depression could be inside of a foster home and I'm glad they made an article to reach out to these homes so they could find ways to look after the children with better care and to see if they can spot any suicidal warnings before some extremely bad were to happen. This article may have started something deeper that we could look into though for all foster homes, depression is most likely not the only mental illness that could be developed inside of a foster home. Children could begin to develop ptsd (post tramatic stress disorder) adjust disorder with depressed and anxious moods and adjust disorders with disturbance in conduct (such as running away from home and getting in trouble at school) separation anxiety disorders if they were taken from parents. Children could develop substance abuse to try and help the depression or anxiety. So all and all I believe these kids inside of foster homes need to be under close watch for any of these characteristics so they can stop the process early in the development. The article says the kid looked happy to be dead, no kid should have such an expression at his death, it's sickening
ReplyDeleteThe article that I chose to critique and perform a reader-response criticism on is "The Crisis of Foster Care" written by Timothy Roche. From reading this article closely, I believe that the main idea and thesis that a majority of the article is based off of is the line, “Neglect and quagmire of child-swallowing bureaucracies plague the system. And the incidence of neglect, physical and sexual abuse of children in the various foster-care systems is feared to be significantly higher than the incidence in the general population.” The author believes that the whole foster care system is corrupted and lacks organization, to say the very least. Timothy Roche thinks that some sort of action must be taking at this poorly run government organization. The article touches on the fact that roughly 7,500 foster kids have been abused in some way within this program. I believe that what the author wants its readers to take away from the article is that, this system has to stopped being overlooked and people have to begin to take a stand for all of these kids every year that are not being taken care of properly. I find it very coincidental and interesting that we read this article this week in English class because in leadership class we had a guest speaker come to speak to us about all of the kids in his lifetime that he has brought in and fostered and cared for. His name escapes me at the moment, but this man was truly remarkable and it was an honor to hear him speak. In his life so far he has brought in and fostered over 15 children and given them all a fantastic life no matter what their background was. Him and his wife show nothing but love to their foster children and I feel that it is people like them that deserve to be commended for what they do and the good that they spread. I feel that this article does a very great job at pointing out the negatives of the foster system but I do think that we must also look at the few good things that come from it (although there are not many). I believe that some major ways that things could improve in the foster care association, is for it to become more organized, for more laws to be put in place regarding the treatment of these children, look for a more permanent alternative for these children like adoption, and lastly, for there to be much more thorough and precise background checks for the people's that are applying to foster these kids.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the news article this week. I think the argument of it is not only to inform people of some of the horrible things that children forced into the foster care system face but to also draw attention to the need of reforms within foster care. I would say that this article hit pretty close to home for me. My mother is actually a foster parent. Although using her foster parenting certificate and training isn’t a huge part of ours lives she did use it once for my former foster brother. We have pretty much lived in apartments my whole life so we have quite had the room to take in another child. However from 2014 to 2015 we rented a home big enough for our family and our new foster child/sibling. My foster brother came to us from a horrible situation at home. He lived with us for a little under 6 months. In that time he got cleaned up and very close to our family. He dropped a lot of horrible habits he had and started doing better in school. After one court decision 6 months after meeting our foster brother, he was returned to the town where he came to us from. Now that he is back in that negative atmosphere he is involved in a lot of the stuff he used to be. Even though I’m glad we could protect him for a while, the foster care system ultimately failed him .The only thing I found comforting about the system is that he was able to avoid situations like that article and for a brief time, my family was able to show him real healthy love and I know that he will never forget it.
ReplyDelete- Natalee Diaz