When I was growing up, my parents took in foster children. From a young age, I learned that there are a lot of children in need.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Too many children in foster care are falling through cracks. Be a hero, take the time learn about adoption today.
I have spent a lot of time with foster children over the years - kids for whom I have not necessarily acted as a foster parent.
Many children in the foster care system are often in the midst of a family challenge.
Many foster children have had difficulty making the transition to independent living. Several are homeless, become single parents, commit crimes, or live in poverty. They are also frequent targets of crime.
We were pressured to accept kids we were not qualified to handle. And we do that to people all the time, which is why we don't have enough foster parents.
The journey into adoption started for my parents, as it does with so many families: my mother and father desperately wanted to have kids, but they couldn't.
When I was in the group homes, I saw some of the kids being moved into foster homes with the potential for adoption. I remember well asking a social worker if I could find a home, too. I was told I was 'too old' and 'no one wants to adopt a 16-year-old.' I felt hopeless and alone.
Growing up, we didn't have anything. My mum wasn't well, so I was in three care homes then foster homes before me and my little brother went back to her. I was passed from pillar to post.
Sometimes a child will get lucky and be placed with foster parents who are loving and supportive and who consider that child their own. But for many, that doesn't happen. Kids are moved around from home to home, to group home and institutions, until they are 18, when they are considered adults and the system is finished with them.
When I was growing up, I wanted to adopt, because I was aware there were kids that didn't have parents.
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