Foster Care Support Group
Foster care is a system by which a certified, stand-in parent(s) cares for minor children or young peoples who have been removed from their birth parents or other custodial adults by state authority. Responsibility for the young person is assumed by the relevant governmental authority and a placement with another family found.
I am fostering a little boy who has been in care for ten months. Mom abandoned him for eight of them but now she has started coming to every visit. Basically has now been meeting her case plan for about eight weeks (missed a visit) and her caseworker is saying he will probably be returned home. I get that the point is reunification but how is that fair to FC? Eight months of nothing and then eight weeks and suddenly she is fit to parent? I am so pissed. I just feel like if a parent abandons her son for 8 months then she should have to work a case plan for 8 months. How else do you show that you are dedicated? My heart feels broken. This is a broken system.
I agree. I thought I would have a hard time once the kids went back. I was not prepared to feel loss while they were still with me.
I find some peace in thinking there are things going on which I am not privy to. The case worker will only say the parents are doing what they need to do.
I have watched these kids grow healthier and happier. Hopefully they will be better equipped when they return.