After writing about youth aging out of the foster care system earlier this week, I found the following infograph about foster youth in my Google Alerts. This document was produced with more recent statistics by The Indiana Youth Institute.
Going through the foster care system can make life a struggle for youth. Frequent placement changes can lead to poor educational and financial outcomes, and foster youth are often unprepared for emancipation leading to high levels of homelessness, incarceration, and mental health problems in early adulthood.
Source: iyi.org via Penelope {Foster2Forever}
From the Declassified Adoptee – A Letter to My Foster Mother:
I was the little baby born to the very young woman who was placed into foster care for a reason I may never really know. I know you will probably never see this. Somehow, I wish you could. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for slipping a hand-written note with a few details of my origins into my adoption file; I’m not sure you were even allowed to do that.
It’s nice to see that not all foster parents are hated.
From the Chronicles of Munchkin Land (a birthmother that relinquished her daughter into an open adoption) wrote about The Pervasive Belief That All Who Relinquish Were Going to Harm Their Child:
The truth is that all of that health stuff only further complicated my singleness and poked holes in my fear and anxiety that I wasn’t “enough” for my daughter. That’s how we came to this place, where I am here and she is there and we are separate. No one told me that “enough” is relative. No one told me that if I was strong enough to endure the agonizing pregnancy with the Munchkin that I was surely strong enough to parent her. No one told me that “stuff” doesn’t make a parent. That adoptive parents fail just as much as we do. That it would be okay. So my anxiety lead the way (to relinquish). And here we are.
From Learning to Abandon, Kylee writes a touching post about loving her foster siblings, if just for a little while, in Including Your Child(ren) – Loving and Letting Go:
As a child, I lacked what was either life experience or mental maturity to protect myself from the amount of pain that comes with being a foster sister. I think that even if I had truly wanted to hold back part of my love for one of my 14 foster siblings, I would not have been able to do so. While I don’t necessarily think that it would have been right to try to shield myself from that pain, I do see now as an adult, that I have developed a sort of defense mechanism that pops up to protect me from pain and hurt. I believe that many children have an incredible way of accepting and loving those who are different, vulnerable, or hurting.
A Very Blessed Mommy discusses her Mother’s Day 2012:
That being said, I love my daughter and I am committed to her. I will NEVER give up on her. God placed her with our family for a reason. He has equipped us specifically to be able to meet her needs. Several people spoke this to me yesterday and I know it’s true. I’m having a rough time right now but that doesn’t change God’s promises. He has got this under control and I am praying for his direction and leadership. Nobody promised me that this road would be easy. In fact, we were told that it would be hard and we chose to do it anyway. The rewards far outweigh the sacrifices. Our family is blessed and we will make it through this. My daughter’s life is going to be an awesome testimony.
