I beleive we have tried to sanitize our civilized nations of orphans. We closed the orphanages and put the healthiest of the kids in foster homes. The more difficult children and sibiling groups live in group homes. We have reserved residential treatment facilities and hospitals for the most difficult kids. Ask me what the difference is between an orphanage and a group home or residential treatment facility.
The first year or two after the placement of a child with an attachment issue is very difficult on the child and the family. I equate it to a trauma treated in an emergency room. It is not pretty and there are some extreme measure that need to be taken to stabilize the patient. Having gone through this myself a couple of times, I wish I had had something I could have given to the people around me to help them know how they could help (actually not working against me would have been fine too). I wrote this list so that adoptive parent can have something to hand to their support network. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments below.
Yeah, kids bounced around in foster care fall behind in school. Yeah, school is important. But parents of RAD kids just can’t be involved in helping their kids with homework. Jennie has been great at separating home from school in the kids minds, while working tirelessly with the teachers. (I on the other hand want [...]
I don’t know if paying foster parents more will improve the quality of foster care, but I found these statistics intriguing and thought I should share them with the Forever Homes Community. Those who care for a single foster child – the ideal situation – earn less per hour than an adolescent babysitter. And the [...]
