Tag Archives: stats

Patient “Forever”

One of the biggest frustrations with former foster children who have managed to make a life for themselves is the inability to give advice in an impactful manner.  Specifically, to give open, honest, direct and sometimes harsh advice to the people who need it – the social workers, the prospective foster parents.  I think I am starting to understand why.

First, the need for foster parents in this broken system is so extreme that most social workers who are in charge of foster parent training are probably worried about scaring off prospective foster parents. Bringing in a former foster child for a group conversation can backfire. Things come up and out of our mouths that can scare the shit of people.

Second, you have to think of DFCS as a business.  DFCS is the supplier of children, the foster parents are the customer. The foster child is not the product, but rather the patient.  We are the never ending patient.  We are “Patient Forever.”

Continue reading Patient “Forever”

Some links and notes for May 10, 2018

See if you notice a pattern. This took all of 5 seconds to find:

(May 14 update: gong to keep revising this post as an ongoing list of aging out examples, check back often).

But remember, when you hear about the progress in foster care and how “it’s different now” than it used to be.

No.

It’s not.

Yes, there are people who care. Yes, there are good programs. Yes, there are good social workers and good foster parents out there. Yes, yes, yes.

But the data don’t lie. And systemically, it’s not changing.

Hidden-Truth-of-Aging-Out