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The American Feminist
The American Feminist, Summer 1995
Foster Kids Face Adoption Barriers
My father was one of those kids who experienced both orphanages and foster care. His father had died during the Depression and his mother was unable to take care of him. Cared for by kind nuns in St. Anne's orphanage in Washington, D.C., he was later lost in a system of abusive foster homes. Years passed, and finally he was rescued by a wonderful couple who had no children of their own. Although in every important way the Hammonds were his parents, his birth mother refused to allow him to be adopted.The situation has not improved in more than 60 years. Fifty thousand of the half-million children in foster care are available for adoption, but wait between 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 years for a permanent home, acording to Conna Craig, president of the Institute for Children in Cambridge, Mass. "This year there will be more American children in foster care than there are people living in Washington, D.C.," she said.
Craig advocates removing the barriers to adoption as a crucial step toward reshaping foster care. "States must impose stricter time lines for terminating parental rights in cases of severe abuse or neglect. If a state has failed to recruit enough families for children who are free to be adopted, then the state should turn to private adoption agencies," said Craig.
Foster children face a dismal future. They have no family to depend on during the crucial transition period between high school and work. Nearly 40 percent of homeless children in large cities come from a failed foster care system. Girls are so desperate to love someone that they get pregnant and become welfare mothers as a way out.
My father was fortunate. He found a couple that cared for him, and after he put himself through school, he cared for them until they died.
For years the "preservation of the family" has been the number one goal of the courts and social workers, and as a result, children have lost out. It's time that the protection of children become our primary concern. We must give children what they are asking for: real families to call their own.
What you can do:
Contact your governor and state legislators. Ask them to review the time limits for terminating parental rights of abusive or neglectful parents so that children may be adopted into a stable home. Serrin M. Foster, Executive Director, FFLAReprinted from The American Feminist, Summer 1995