Children Are Languishing in Foster Care
Public Comments (1,077)
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Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from East Bridgewater, MA signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Manchester, KY signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from West Chester, PA writes:
The concept behind ASFA is great. The execution is at best, poor, and at its worst, a sad joke, with the children bearing the brunt of this. I have been consistently fostering a child, and it took nearly 28 months before the agency could terminate parental rights. The agency first requested a goal change from reunification to adoption when the child had been with me for 20 months - well beyond the 15 month mark. At that point, neither parent had even bothered seeing the child in over six months, nor sent anything to her - not even a postcard. They had done nothing towards reunification - but, despite that, the judge decided that the parents needed more time to try to pull themselves together - leaving this child literally at the mercy of the system for another half-year. Some might say, what's the big deal, she's safe with you, right? (Safe, yes). You're going to adopt her eventually, right? (Yes, I am). Sure, she's safe with me. But she feels like she is being punished for her parents errors, because as a foster child, she has so many restrictions on her that she doesn't feel like a regular child. A cage can be gilded, but it is still a cage. As a foster child, she can't have her photo taken for school photos, or any activities, such as scouts. When her scout troop has activities, she has to stop and step away from anyone taking photos - candid or otherwise - because the agency rule is she isn't allowed to be in photos, and certainly not on any social media sites. She sees photo holiday cards come in the mail to our home, with families posing with their loved children - and she knows we can't do the same, because we can't include her in it. Most of her friends have sleepovers, and she isn't allowed to do that either - agency rule. She isn't even allowed to have a play date at a classmate's house unless I am also able to be there the entire time - because the agency rule is that I have to be with her whenever she is not at school. As a working foster parent, this means she can't accept play dates for after school where her classmate might have a stay-at-home parent; she has to go to a day care facility. When a child's parents still have rights, despite years of abuse and neglect, some states maintain that the abusive parent still has to give (or withhold) permission for a child to even get routine hair trims. It literally took a court order, after this child had been in care for a year, to get a one-quarter inch trim. Her hair was already long and constantly tangling and matting before she came into care; do you think it got any easier as it grew another six inches? So, yes, while the child is "safe" - being in foster care is far from a normal, healthy life. And now we are waiting for the lengthy adoption process to occur. By all rights, under ASFA, the parents of this child should have lost rights back in August of 2014 - that was the 15 month mark. And in a well-run system, that adoption should haveDec 18th, 2015Someone from Brick, NJ signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Ottawa, OH signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Conway, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Rockland, MA signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Milan, MI writes:
My heart aches for the innocent children, who are in the foster care system. We need enforced time limits for biogical parents to meet the courts orders. Why should a child be in limbo for YEARS, when the the biologicals can't pass drug tests, or show up for visits, or fix a safe living space, or keep a job? The childrens emotional needs to be a priority!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Decatur, IL signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Hattiesburg, MS signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Medford, NJ signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Lebanon, TN signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from New York, NY writes:
I understand the seriousness of terminating parental rights, but when birth parents continue on their path of destruction again and again, it must be done. Kids deserve a loving permanent home, so do the right thing and stop letting children languish in foster care!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Albuquerque, NM signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Plainfield, NJ signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Milan, MI writes:
I have a little guy who is 3 1/2, has been with us since he was 4 months old, lived with his parents 17 days of his life, the agency tried for permanency, the referee found for the parents and gave them more time. As is there pattern, they almost instantly sabotage themselves after they get more time, so the waiting game continues.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Mustang, OK signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Norco, CA signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Corona, CA signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Saint Peters, MO writes:
I have watched proceedings going on for members of my family that want to give foster children a permanent home. The constant delays and upheavals in their life and the uncertainty for the children is heartbreaking. I also see the incredible expense to the taxpayers in court costs, drug testing for drug addicted parents, doctors, social workers, mental health experts, lawyers for the state as well as a lawyer for parents that are on welfare, and transporters for visits. Get these poor kids into stable homes as soon as possible and they should become better citizens as well as more people willing to become foster parents and adopt from within the U.S. system rather than going outside because it is easier!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Fort Lauderdale, FL signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from West Creek, NJ signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Myrtle Beach, SC writes:
It's ridiculous to have a foster child for 20 months and when TPR was cancelled because DSS didn't follow the federal law, and not returned to foster parents wanting to adopt.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Scotch Plains, NJ writes:
As a foster parent I can say without question that the system will foster reunification with minimal regard to the impact on the children. And we as taxpayer pay for this gross injustice. We have to fix this system for the sale of the innocent children stuck in it.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Auburn, WA signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Aurora, CO signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Algonac, MI signed.
Dec 18th, 2015Someone from Garwood, NJ writes:
What's best for the children should be the number one priority, not what's best for the biological parents.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelDec 18th, 2015Someone from Davenport, FL writes:
The only way to help these children is to change the laws and not take the parent's rights before the best interest of the child!REPORT COMMENTS
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