Tag Archives: foster care

Helping Foster Care Teens Grow Up

My last blog talked about a problem most people rarely think about: the high rates of homelessness, unemployment, dropping out of school before gaining a diploma, and unplanned pregnancy found among older teens who suddenly stop being cared for by the foster care system once they turn 18. Many 18-year-olds are still in high school. Many more foster youth will not finish on time because of difficulties caused by changing schools due to frequent foster care moves. One agency providing tutoring to foster children estimated that their clients’ reading levels were 5-6 years behind their age—this means an 18-year-old reading … Continue reading →

“Aging Out”: No Home for the Holidays

In this season where so many of us try to go “home for the holidays”, an often-invisible but increasingly large group of young adults literally has no home to go home to. A report released this year by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative says that the number of children “aging out” of foster care (turning 18 before being adopted or safely reunited with family members) has increased by 41% in the last ten years. Picture a teen-ager you care about—a son or daughter, nephew or niece, neighbor, supermarket clerk, whomever. Now imagine that on his … Continue reading →

Adoption Options for Single Parents: Adopting from the Child Welfare System

Unmarried individuals may wonder about their options for parenting. Certainly parenting a child who needs you is an admirable goal. Some individuals may not feel they can parent without the support of a partner. Certainly the support for you and the role modeling for your child are advantages to having a partner, but many single parents do adopt successfully. As one children’s worker stated, “All children really need to thrive is someone who’s crazy about them.” Perhaps you can be that person for a child. The U.S. foster care system is very open to adoptions from single parents. Older child … Continue reading →

The Story of the Orphan Trains

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My last blog introduced my review of the Orphan Train Children series of children’s books. Twenty pages of historical notes in the back of each book tell the story of the real “orphan trains”, which took more than 150,000 children in the care of the New York Children’s Aid Society to rural communities between 1856 and 1929. Another hundred thousand were sent to the West by the New York Foundling Home. The notes explain the conditions in the Lower East Side of New York, the diseases which took many lives, and the fact that many children were from immigrant families … Continue reading →

When the Road Ends – Jean Thesman

In “When the Road Ends” by Jean Thesman, Mary Jack is a twelve-year-old who has spent her entire life in the foster care system. Passed around from home to home, she’s never had any constancy in her life until now, having been placed with Father Matt and his wife. Father Matt is a well-meaning man of the cloth – his heart’s in the right place, but he doesn’t often have the courage to follow through. His wife is an unkind, unfeeling woman who complains endlessly about all she has to endure, and Mark Jack finds herself taking up a lot … Continue reading →

The Window – Michael Dorris

Rayona knows her mother’s not responsible enough to take care of her, but that doesn’t keep her from having fierce loyalty. For years she’s made excuses for her mom’s midweek benders and hangovers, the lack of food in the fridge from grocery money spent on alcohol instead, and the days missed at work because her mom was too “sick” to go in. When Rayona’s dad comes for a visit and sees how things really are, he removes Rayona from the house and calls in a rehab clinic to take in the mom. At first, Rayona thinks she’ll be living with … Continue reading →

Tabby: The Continuing Saga

I continue to be a foster mom to the little stray cat we’ve named Tabby. Life with Tabby continues to be interesting: Friday, February 16 At 2 p.m. she had her check up appointment at Banfield Pet Hospital. The Friday before she was so out of it that putting her in the carrier I bought at PetSmart to transport her home was no trouble. And she simply slept during the car ride, so there was no muss or fuss. She fussed considerably about me putting her in her cardboard carrier this go around. She did the whole splayed leg routine … Continue reading →

Life with Tabby the Stray

Yesterday I wrote about how I’m now a foster mom to a little stray girl we’re calling Tabby. Every effort continues to be made to locate her people. We’ve fielded calls every day since Sunday when flyers went up and postings were made. Last night I had great hopes the efforts had paid off and a reunion was about to be had. A very nice man who lost a cat in the same area where I found Tabby called. He described his Cleo as sweet, very affectionate, and small. Tabby fit all those bills! He emailed me a picture of … Continue reading →

Types of Adoption Part Two: Adoption From the Child Welfare System

There are three main types of adoption: domestic U.S. infant adoption, adoption from foster care/state welfare agencies, and international adoption. Adoption through the child welfare system also involves completing a homestudy. The homestudy is circulated among caseworkers looking for families for children. Information about children who are waiting for adoption is also often available through photolistings or directories sometimes called “blue books” which give a basic synopsis of the child’s age, situation, and needs. These are generally children who are in foster care. When a match is made, there is usually a period of transition when the child begins to … Continue reading →

How You Can Interfere in Opportunistic Prostitution

Opportunistic Prostitution is the exchange of a required good, instead of money, for sexual favors. In its simplest form, in consensual situations, it’s where one party has sex with another because the other paid for dinner, bought an expensive gift, or said nice things. Ummm…sounds like some marriages I know of. A strange view of consensual sex, opportunistic prostitution is not uncommon amongst our young people. Much blame is placed upon young street kids for being promiscuous. Often what the kids are doing is just surviving. Entering into opportunistic prostitution keeps them alive and safe. They exchange sex with someone … Continue reading →