I started mentoring a brother and sister largely due to Diane Sawyer’s “Calling all Angels” piece.  I had absolutely no exposure to the foster care system prior to this, and WOW!  what an emotional journey it has been.

 

The kids have been bouncing from home-to home-to home…Only one out of the six foster families that I’ve dealt with, so far, have been in it for the right reason. Without a doubt, five of them are in it for the money.   None of the homes has had less than 6 foster children in them, and one of them had as many as 12 children. (None of them are Group Homes either). Basically, I've been witnessing incompetent foster parents bilking a system full of kid warehouses. The kid’s basic needs have been met in all of the homes, which are a step up from their biological family. But, because their basic needs have been met--the emotional abuses are overlooked by the caseworkers. The emotional abuse includes such things as unfair treatment between biological and foster children, and moving from homes/schools without notice. I believe that the emotional abuse is what facilitates the heartbreaking statistics that “Calling all Angels” highlighted: prison, suicide, homelessness, teen-pregnancy…

 

I question the ability of any parent, while currently raising biological children--that bring foster children into their home to live. I realize this is a bold statement, but I don’t understand parents who are willing to jeopardize their biological children’s welfare by introducing a grab-bag of potential problems into the equation. It’s not that I don’t think that they can be raised together successfully, but it’s the willingness to jeopardize a biological child’s welfare that bothers me. It bothers me because I think if a parent is willing to risk their own child’s welfare, than the probability of protecting a foster child’s welfare is at an even greater risk.