Changing "The System"

There are lots of ways an individual can influence 'the system' to work more effectively. Writing letters to members of congress and legislature is one. Write letters to encourage:

Insisting that caseworkers/state DCFS workers follow Federal permanency planning laws about  getting children into permanent homes. We have more than 500,000 children in foster care. Once relative adoptions, step parent adoptions, inter national adoption,  and direct foster parent adoptions are removed from the statistics, LESS THAN 10,000 adoptions are done IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY each year!!!!  State statisticians add all those other adoptions into the numbers to artificially inflate the number of adoptions done and make it seem like we're doing an adequate job at finding permanent homes when biological homes are unable to provide for children when in fact it's not happening.

Insisting on accountability for post adoption funds actually getting to adoptive parents to provide services to increase the number/percentage of older child adoptions. President Bush recently signed a bill that gave over $70 million dollars for post adoption services. Most states have NOT put those funds into anything that will actually help adoptive parents deal with post adoption services. TWO STATES, Missouri and Texas have recently drastically reduced subsidies and post adoptions service to adopted families, (most of whom have adopted older children with extensive emotional needs) making it harder than ever to provide what's needed for severely abused/neglected children to heal and recover from the damage.

Insisting that local schools have family life courses in middle and high schools, giving children a firm basis in the reality of parenting and it's stresses and rewards goes a long way toward slowing down the number of very young moms/dads who get into trouble and have their children removed from their care.

Advocating for parenting courses and preventative programs for 'at risk' families.. drop in centers, crisis centers, peer parenting programs, parent-child centers where families can go when they're stressed to the max are very cost effective ways to support children/families and lessen the need for children to be removed from home.

Find a school and mentor a student, or become a big brother or sister to a child in a single parent home is something you can do personally.  Encourage your friends and co-horts to do the same. Service has become an outmoded value for many, as has volunteerism.

I'm a product of the system.. a failed adoption, bouncing in and out of the foster care system, finally getting into a good placement and learning real life skills and being encouraged to pursue my education. I've worked as a social worker, child protection worker ( I Detested it!), foster parent, foster parent recruiter, adoptive parent, trainer/family therapist, teacher.. anything to earn a living and support my children.

It truly only takes ONE PERSON to create change, to change a child's direction in life.. it may take a village to raise a child, but it only takes ONE PERSON to begin to create positive changes in the life of ONE CHILD.

A hundred years from now, many things won't matter at all.. but it will matter if each of us had made an extra effort to reach out to help a child.

Deedee

Adoptive Families Home

Articles Home