by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Jun 27, 2015 | Blog, Foster Care
The topic of child welfare looms large in my novel Our Orbit, which tells the story of an Appalachian girl who crosses the tracks to become foster daughter to an educated family. Love and conflict ensue as many social issues of our time raise their sometimes ugly heads. In gratitude to those who helped me learn about the many demands and great rewards of foster care, I continue to share information on this topic.
Many thanks to today’s guest poster, Teresa Devroe Brown, a foster, adoptive, and bio mom as well as an active blogger. The following is an edited version of her blog post dated 1/10/11—
Our family entered the world of foster care in the Fall of 2003. Since that time, we have had 17 children placed in our home and provided short term respite for around 20 other children.
So much has changed in our lives since that first placement.
We have seen scared children dropped off at our home, owning only the clothes on their backs.
We have attended more medical appointments and evaluations than I can count (one child alone had over 250 such appointments while in our care!).
We have helped establish IEP goals for the children in school.
We have cared for two very medically fragile children.
We have worked with numerous counties, caseworkers, CASA’s and biological parents.
We have cared for children with more labels than we knew existed: ADD, ADHD, OCD, ODD,eating disorders, “crack baby,” PTSD, attachment disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome, poly-drug exposure, MRSA, skin problems, breathing problems, severe visual problems and cognitive delays, to name a few.
We dropped children off at numerous visits with their biological families, some welcomed and some “kicking and screaming” (literally) on the way there.
We have brought countless children to a scheduled visit with their families, only to have them sent back to us after waiting in a lobby for 30 minutes, telling us, “Mom (or Dad) couldn’t make it today!”
We have endured countless hours of logging the daily activities of these children to turn into the foster care agency.
We have agonized as children have had to live in two worlds, “our world” and “their world” at home. Living with us under our parenting principles and guidelines, yet “visiting” their parents under their worldviews, all the while trying to sort out and reconcile some of the comforts and security of living with us, yet their fierce and understandable loyalty to their own family.
We have sat through court hearings where decisions were clearly made “in the best interest of the biological parent,” not “the best interest of the child,” which is why the child was removed from the home in the first place.
We have watched little girls take their first dance lessons, young boys hit their first ball in Little League, teen boys get ready for their first football practice, teen girls make the basketball team and little ones memorize Bible verses for AWANA.
We have been there when a little child woke up from surgery.
We have spent countless hours creating “LifeBooks” for each child, a forever memory and keepsake of pictures to record their time with our family
We have watched two siblings leave our home after living with us for two years. Their new “forever family” snapped them into their van with a little U-Haul attached to bring all their belongings to their new home.
We have watched four kids successfully reunite with their biological parents and four others who were able to live with a relative. We have seen three children get adopted into great Christian homes, ready to start their new lives with their “Forever Family.”
And we sat through a court hearing where one of these children became our legal son.
We have seen our biological children learn firsthand about the many injustices in this world and that “family” is not always a safe and loving place or feeling. They have learned to share their space, their things, their parents and their hearts with the many children who have come and gone from our lives.
They watched a young teen Mom as she tried to manage school and an infant son while they went to the movies with their friends. They have seen the impact of raising children with no boundaries and no consequences. They have seen the hardships of being cared for by a mentally ill Mom.
And our oldest, Lauren, just graduated with her degree in Social Work and now works for Children’s Services in her county. She has seen firsthand both the benefits and the problems with our child welfare system. And she wants to remain committed to caring for the abused and the neglected.
Several years ago, in one of her college application essays, she responded to the often asked questions of, “How do you guys do it? I could never do foster care. I would get too attached to the kids. I could never give them up.” Her heartfelt response? “It is not about how we feel. It is about the kids!”
Our children have developed a real heart for the hurting in this world.
And they have thoroughly embraced, Jameson, their adopted brother.
But with all the many joys and victories we have experienced, there has also been much heartache.
Heartache over children leaving our home only to “age out” of the foster care system and be forever “on their own” and without a family to call their own.
We have personally experienced the scrutiny of county caseworkers who think we should silently “do what we are told” by “the system,” oftentimes to the detriment of the very children we are caring for.
Even when we disagree with the details of the case plan, we try to care for and love these children for as long as they are in our home. We help bathe these children. And read to them. And help them with their homework. And take them to appointments. And pack their lunches. And love them.
So today, I will trust in the One Who has called me to this life. I will choose to remain steadfast in Him. I will ask Him to help me lovingly care for these children. And to graciously forgive their families who have inflicted so much pain on them.
Today, I will braid the hair of a child who is not my own. I will take her to dance class. And cheerleading practice. I will eagerly wait for another one to come home from her basketball game. I will listen to whatever she is willing to tell me about her day and the game (she won’t say much).
Today, I will pay extra attention to my adopted son. I will pause and remember what a great responsibility it has been to parent him. I will revel in how far he has come. I will count it a privilege to be his Mom.
And I will grieve for his Birth Mother and wonder how she is doing. Does she think of him? Did her heart feel a little empty on Mother’s Day? Would she be so proud to see him now?
And when there are hard days in our foster and adoptive world, I will heed the words of my wise-beyond-her-years daughter, “It is not about how I feel. It is about the kids.”
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Lord, may my faith be pure and faultless today!
~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you for learning about issues involved in foster care! For additional information—
Visit the official site of National Foster Care Month 2015.
Visit the National Foster Parent Association.
Many thanks for visiting my blog today! Please browse the website and let me know if you like what you see, or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by leaving a comment in the box below or by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). Consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter. And stop by again soon!
by anesamiller_wuhi6k | Apr 27, 2015 | Blog, Foster Care, National Foster Care Month, OMG—It's CELEBRITIES!
Can you ever have too much star power?
Readers of Our Orbit know that the topic of foster care plays a major role in the plot and the lives of all the characters. To honor everyone who helped me learn and write about this system of neighborly care, I will be posting on this topic for the next several weeks.
We start on a light note, with this addition to the series OMG – It’s CELEBRITIES! Rick and Deanne Fletcher, the young couple who become foster mom and dad to 9-year-old Miriam Winslow after her father’s arrest —
Rick & Deanne: “Ideal foster parents”
Not the meatiest roles?
As you may know, Our Orbit features a number of meaty roles that actors are sure to enjoy: an alcoholic 14-year-old, closeted aunts and uncles, men whose masculinity is dangerously entangled with religious devotion and resistance to authority. So at first glance, the parts of Rick and Deanne Fletcher may not seem like the best in the book.
Born and raised in small-town Ohio, Rick and Deanne meet at the local liberal arts college. They get married as soon as he graduates and finds work teaching chemistry at a rural high school. Deanne teaches kindergarten, then works as a substitute when the babies begin to arrive. Rick’s family boasts a small claim to urban sophistication, coming from the regional hub of Cincinnati, while Deanne grew up on a farm that her family has proudly held for over a century.
A kindly face of authority
By their mid-20s, the couple has a mortgage and two children. Already eager for a third baby, they decide to look into foster care as a way to grow their family while limiting the financial strain. (Maybe not the best reason to do a good thing? You be the judge.) In short, Rick and Deanne are both traditionalists with slightly left-of-center political views. Oh—! and Rick has now been promoted to Assistant Principal of the high school, so he is an official member of the local establishment.
Not necessarily the sexiest roles, these are, nonetheless, central characters that in movie parlance (Watch me pretend I speak it!) must be considered the male and female leads. I need consummate talent to render their authenticity without letting too many hints of stuffiness, much less irony, slip in.
My first thought was the brilliant German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender as Rick, and undisputed genius Jessica Chastain as Deanne. Both come laden with enough awards and nominations to daunt a stout mule.
Since his bone-chilling portrayals of a diehard Confederate racist in Twelve Years a Slave and an amoral lawyer casually consorting with drug kingpins in The Counselor, no one could doubt that Fassbender has talent to burn. His action and fantasy experience attest to range, while Shakespearean roles demonstrate the respect he has earned.
Quite aside from her austere, award-winning role in Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain has shown that she can breathe convincing nuance into maternal roles in Tree of Life and The Color of Time. Even her portrayal of the ditsy Celia Foote in The Help redounds to Deanne’s credit—both are country girls who confront the often constricting demands of rural society. (As a recovering Russian Studies instructor, I’m especially thrilled that Chastain appeared in a festival production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard—more small-town chops.)
Any idea how I can get these folks to show up for a casting call?
Actually, although Fassbender and Chastain are clearly big-screen magic, maybe I don’t need quite so much star power. Actors a bit less blinding with renown could find a way to shine in these modest-seeming roles.
So then, like a real-life Casting Director, I browsed some headshots and experienced an epiphany when I saw Matthew Morrison posing by an institutional-looking brick wall! Who knows more about playing a high school teacher confronted with mega-challenges than the star of the hit TV show Glee?
Homeboy!
True, Mr. Schuester slips in and out of conventional character with ease amid Glee’s meta commentaries and fantastical elements. Not much of that in OO, I’m afraid. But with several awards to his credit, there’s no question that Morrison possesses the skill to head up a dramatic cast, hands tied behind his back. (Which we might need to do: Sorry, Matt—no singing or dancing.)
And as Deanne? How about the irresistible Michelle Williams?
Sweetheart Next-Door
She did motherhood in her multiple award-winning role in Blue Valentine (though, admittedly, that is a tortured and hence perhaps less challenging take on maternity than the unruffled Deanne Fletcher). And as Norma Jean turned Marilyn Monroe, Michelle embodies the sweetheart next-door with endearing ease.
So hey, kids— It’s a definite maybe! I’ll call you as soon as the funding comes together. And even though we now take a pause on the CELEBRITY trail, a few biggies remain to come, later this summer: patriarch Levi Winslow, his wife Emaline, and sister-in-law Aunt Melanie.
Thanks for joining my fantasy. I’ve had good fun. And I think it’s proof that I can dream—can’t I?
~ ~ ~ ~
Kudos for visiting my blog today! Check out the website and let me know if you like what you see, or if you have suggestions. You can reach me by leaving a comment in the box below or by clicking the Contact link at upper right (or just click here). Please consider subscribing to my blog or newsletter. And stop by again soon!
We have cared for children with more labels than we knew existed: ADD, ADHD, OCD, ODD,
We have sat through court hearings where decisions were clearly made “in the best interest of the biological parent,” not “the best interest of the child,” which is why the child was removed from the home in the first place.
We have watched four kids successfully reunite with their biological parents and four others who were able to live with a relative. We have seen three children get adopted into great Christian homes, ready to start their new lives with their “Forever Family.”
