What is Wrong with Foster Care in America

My biological mother is mentally handicapped and it was determined that she not able to provide for herself and therefore received/ receives social security checks. Her parents were planning to keep her at home with them throughout her life. But, she got pregnant with my older brother.

My grandparents chose to buy her and her now husband a home, furnish the home etc, so they could raise their baby. The baby was born into the toilet because my mother did not know she was in labor. So begun her journey into motherhood. Three and a half years later I was born, in a bed, she still didn’t get the concept of going to the hospital but at least this time she stayed in the bed.

My brother was taken away from my parents when he was five after a few weeks of kindergarten the neglect was so apparent that the state intervened. They left the baby, me, because there wasn’t proof of neglect.

My parents chose to sell the house and move into a two bedroom apartment. They rented out my bedroom and I shared that room with two men, both of whom had recently returned from Vietnam. One of the men, John, started paying a lot of attention to me. This was the first person in my entire life that had paid attention to me and I loved the attention. So what if he would ask me to take off all my clothes when we talked or that he would touch me in weird places. I adored his attention

Later my father took all the money from the sale of the house, he took the car too and he left me and my mom. She promptly married John and we all lived off the welfare and social security that came from having a kid and not being mentally fit enough to hold a job. Eventually John made a mistake and turned his attention toward a neighbor kid and he went to jail. My mother was so distraught. She said she didn’t know what he had been doing to me; I reminded her that he had forced me to watch the two of them having sex, but I never told on her for that. The social worker still didn’t have enough of a reason to take me away from my mother so they let John out of jail and the fact that my mother picked him up and drove him back to our home was enough to take me away from her finally. I was five.

I was placed in foster care. My foster parents raised me and adopted my older brother and myself and we all lived happily ever after, but not really.

My social worker took me to the doctor for an examination. I remember every minute of that examination as if it were yesterday. I was told to take off all my clothes. I had to get on the table and have my privates inspected. There were five adults in the room, none of whom I knew. They were all asking me questions, grilling me, did he touch you here – and the doctor would touch me there… I refused to speak to these people. The social worker was furious and told me that I had to tell the truth now or … I forget what she threatened me with. That was a moment that changed my life forever. From that moment on I decided to never tell the truth again. I was about thirty before I finally got over that. I just never allowed anyone to know me. I would lie about my favorite food, or if I like a TV show, or anything, I just never wanted to let anyone see me after what that room full of strangers did to me.

From that came my family, not having to be raised in extreme poverty, being severely neglected, and sexually abused. At the time I would have rather gone back to my family. I now realize that I am better off, I am able to be a great mom, a fabulous wife, I am able to communicate my thoughts to you here and now due to the fact that I was taken away and raised by such a good family. Yet, it seems that it could have been done better, that it really wasn’t necessary to be so cruel to me in the process. I still don’t trust doctors or teachers, foster parents or social workers, police or really anyone in a position of power.

I am telling you this now, because I wonder if all you lovely people who have never been abused or neglected, never been taken from your parents and stripped naked in front of a room full of people having your privates examined and being questioned about what you have been doing with those privates, I wonder if you understand what it is that is happening to all those children who were removed from the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

I also worry that not all foster care families are wonderful like mine. Hi dad. The foster care system today is so overwhelmed and under funded that there is not enough social workers to oversee the foster families and many children in the foster care program are abused and neglected by the foster families. How many of those children are being fed dinner tonight, and how many are being locked in the closet? How many are being hit or molested by the foster care system? Did we rescue those kids or are we torturing them? Did we wait too long, how many years have we as a country known about this and other polygamist sects? How long have we waited for enough proof before rescuing these children? This issue along with all the children in America who are abused and neglected is complex, very complex.

This is really the main reason I want Hillary Clinton to be our next president. She has devoted her life to advocating and improving the system to help abused and neglected children. No matter her job, no matter if she joined a committee, formed a committee, and gave abused children legal council, worked to improve the foster care program, worked with head start, worked with PBS. She has been embroiled in this fight for her entire adult life and understands the complexities. I have faith that she will continue to fight for these children as president because she always has, now matter what life throws at her, she always has found a way to improve the conditions for kids. One at a time or a nation at a time Hillary Clinton always finds a way. I think she gets it and to me helping the abused and neglected children of our country is priority number one, to me kids come first.