Though I often get frustrated with coworkers and/or supervisors when they don't seem to have the kids' best interests at heart, I am very rarely frustrated with the kids themselves. They are the best part of my job. The photo is of something that two sisters at the Family Center made for me, totally unprompted. I nearly cried when I saw them making these construction paper hearts!
One of the things that makes my job seem very difficult is how little time I actually get to spend with the kids. Since my program requires me to be at a different site nearly every day, I see most of these kids once a week. The students at the Family Center move in and out so often that I sometimes only meet a kid twice before they are gone forever. Even if I could be with them every day, I'd still have to send certain children home to abusive/neglectful parents, and that is heartwrenching.
So, I'm thinking about becoming a foster parent once I have a stable income. I think I would really enjoy being able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with a child who needs a caring adult in their lives. The limitations of my current position mean that I can't give a dirty kid a bath, or braid their hair all pretty to make them feel special, or even give a good long hug if they seem to need it. As a foster parent, I'd feel like I could really make a difference in an individual's life.
And no, I'm not fooling myself into thinking it would be easy. Since I'm so young, I'd start off only taking placements of toddlers and infants, and I know it would be awful to give them back to their parents. But at least Children's Services makes an effort to ensure that the biological parents are better off than before the child was placed in foster care, so I'd know that they were relatively safe.
Any thoughts on this idea? Know anyone who has been through the foster system (either as a child or a parent) and has some advice?
1 comments:
Val-
I applaud your vigor for helping kids and can attest that there is certainly no shortage of kids who need it. I am sure that there will be a ton of people who try to discourage your desire to foster, and they will likely list a plethora of reasons as to why you should opt out. However, at the end of the day, you are helping a child - who could say no to that?
Having had many, many students in the foster care system through my time at Rogers, I can also say this - most are actually pretty good homes. Of course, you have your chronic abusers of the system, but most of my kids in foster care have grown quite close to their foster parents and their lives have been directly affected positively as a result. It is the removal of the child FROM that stability that often wreaks havoc on them socially. I am not sure the answer to that dilemma, but I know this- they are always better for having had the time with a foster parent, than if they had never been there.
Kudos to you!
KPeters
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