Tag Archives: foster homes

Taking Our Kids Home

We have our new three year son in the back seat and we are driving to pick up our new fourteen month old son at his foster home. We had this sweet little boy in the back seat that was so happy that his baby brother was again going to be living in the same home as him that he cannot stop smiling. We pulled up and unbuckled him from his car seat he held on to the stuffed animal that we just gave him tucked under his arm and he held both our hands as we walked up to … Continue reading →

Foster Parents Part 2

Take a moment to think about this, how many times has your child had to work on a project for school where they were to bring pictures of them when they were younger? Now imagine you had none to give your child how would your child feel? Most good foster parents create a book that the child can take with them to wherever their next home may be. This book is called a life book and it basically shows their life since they were in foster care. Most children in the system have no pictures from before they were put … Continue reading →

Are all Foster Homes the Same?

When you think of a foster home you think that they would be pretty much the same however that could not be further from the truth. Our two sons were placed in foster care around the same time but they were not placed in the same home. First I really do not understand that, siblings should be together. I understand there are some large sibling groups that finding a home to accept the entire group may be impossible, but we are talking about two kids. When they were placed in foster care one was a month and the other was … Continue reading →

What I Call Life – Jill Wolfson

“What I Call Life” is a young adult fiction novel set around the Pumpkin House, an orange building filled to the brim with foster children who operate under the care of the Knitting Lady. When Cal Lavender’s mother has another one of her “episodes,” this time in a public library, eleven-year-old Cal isn’t fazed. This is normal behavior for her mother. Soon she’ll snap out of it and everything will be fine, until the next time. But the authorities are called and Betty is taken off for treatment, while Cal is taken to the Pumpkin House. She doesn’t know what … Continue reading →

The Road to Paris – Nikki Grimes

Paris Richmond is an eight-year-old girl who has already seen more of her fair share of difficulty in her life. The daughter of a black mother and a white father, she has darker skin but blonde hair, which gains her curious and often critical looks from people she meets. What’s worse, though, is the fact that her mother is an alcoholic and her father hasn’t been seen for years. Neither has her brother Malcolm’s father. These two children wouldn’t know what to do with a full-time father in their lives. When the Department of Family Services finds out just how … Continue reading →

Abusive Foster Homes

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Last November, Mesa Family Services, a company that licensed and operated foster homes in the Dallas area, lost its permit because two children had died violently in separate incidents in their homes in the last four years. A company called Therapeutic Family Life took over one hundred of their homes. Apparently, there was little improvement in supervision and conditions. A five year old girl has been violently murdered in one of those homes and her foster mother has been arrested. Apparently, her teenaged son, who has been arrested for murder, had been beating the little girl and her siblings. Police … Continue reading →

Who’s Causing More Damage, the Home or the State?

It’s tragic enough when a circumstances of abuse or neglect require a child be removed from their home. Children, even when placed in the best homes and receive the most appropriate care still may struggle with past trauma. What is even more devastating is sometimes it’s the state who contributes unnecessary hardships for the child. I should mention that I have yet to meet a state employee who has had any intention other than helping a child. One problem I see is with the balance of reasonable time for parents to reclaim custody of their child versus the need for … Continue reading →