Foster Parents

Nothing tugs at the heart strings quite like a little girl screaming for her mother... as you drive in the opposite direction. All while knowing the pain of that separation is better than the ramifications of allowing immediate reunification... or no removal to begin with.

There still seems to be this stigma in our culture about foster care, as if the foster parents are to blame for the problems in our society... while all along, the birth parents should be the targets. Now, let's assume that it's a given that there will always be people who don't belong where they are... whether it's foster parents in it for the money, judgmental people at your church, or the party animal who works for a Christian organization. There are people who sneak through the cracks, who are in it for the control, for the money, to "save" all the children out there. These people get weeded out. But for every bad seed, there are far more who are in it because they genuinely care about children.

Can these same people argue against the foster care system when a 2 year old comes in says fuck repeatedly, a 5 year old who has killed another human being, or a 4 year old with an STD? There are some who will still argue that these children should belong in their birth home... so that they can be beaten and locked in closets, told they are worthless and stupid and pieces of shit, denied food? And don't even get me started on the sexual abuse...

On top of this, there is very little money for adoption out there these days. Some children aren't getting any money. Children that will need years and years of therapy and counseling, perhaps even stays in residential care due to their extreme issues... and yet we support a war and spend billions on another countries problems while we have an endless supply of our own!?

When you raise children of your own, you have the opportunity to lay the foundation and then build on that. Yet when you foster, you take children into your home who have cracked and broken foundations... and then attempt to repair it.

The next time you encounter foster parents, just remember some of this...