Through Rose-Colored Glasses: The Truth about Foster Care
Imagine yourself when you were eighteen years old. Now
imagine that you were kicked out of the house on your eighteenth birthday,
allowed to keep only the things you could carry on your back. Imagine that all
ties to your family were completely severed. Imagine that you had no one to turn
to for any money whatsoever. You have nowhere to live, no references to get an
apartment, you work a part-time job and you’re still trying to graduate high
school.
Chances are you were nowhere near ready to live
completely on your own when you just turned eighteen. Unfortunately, children
who are neglected, placed in foster care, or outright abandoned face this same situation
the day they turn eighteen years old.
Child abuse in America is a taboo topic in most social
circles. Most adults don’t dare to speak of it or imagine the consequences
suffered by victimized children of abuse and neglect. After all, it is very
hard for most people to imagine that anyone would harm a child. It is also very
hard to admit the sad and dysfunctional system that has become foster care in
America. Most Americans believe that as long as they pay their taxes, they are
doing their part for children of abuse, abandonment and neglect. This couldn’t be
further from the truth.
Most statistics about children of abuse and neglect are
inaccurate and often biased. 1 out of 3 homeless people in America is a former
foster care child. Many state programs boast that they offer follow-up care for
children who are current and former foster care children. Even if these
programs are offered, usually children never reap the benefits. Whether or not
they get benefits depends on their case-worker. Most foster care children go
through 2-5 case-workers a year. With so much turn-around, most foster care
children never have time to establish a bond with a single case-worker and in
turn, never get referred or receive help from foster care programs.
Some people believe that all foster care children get
free money to cover the costs of college. This also couldn’t be further from
the truth. Foster care children apply for college aid as “independent
studentsâ€, and the amount they receive is usually capped around $2400 per
semester, depending on the state. College hasn’t cost less than $2400 per
semester since the early 1990s. To top things off, they usually receive no
guidance about where to get financial aid; they have no parents to help apply
and no computer to apply to FAFSA. Foster care children can’t even apply for
PLUS loans or other student loans, as they have no parents to co-sign for them.
Can you imagine life even worse than this? As a foster
care child, if you haven’t “aged-out†of foster care yet, then life is usually
much worse. Some states require as little as twelve hours of instruction in
foster care to receive a permit to keep foster care children. Some states don’t
even run background checks on every foster care parent! For example, one couple
in the Midwest was charged with locking up their malnourished foster care child
in a closet, who later died. The couple burned the child’s body and threw him
out like a ragdoll. After an investigation, the couple was found with previous
charges of child abuse that had gone unnoticed by the foster care agency.
Is this the legacy we want to leave for the next
generation? Countless foster care children are “survivors†of the foster care
system and will share their stories of human enslavement that will ring for
generations to come. In the foster care system, we have thrown away victims of
neglect and abandonment. The worst of the cases are appalling; so much that
foster care children wish they had died or had been aborted rather than live
through foster care.
How can we stop this vicious cycle? First of all, every
adult needs to know the truth about child neglect and report it early. Child
abuse usually starts with emotional abuse. By stopping the abuse at this stage
and remedially correcting the adult’s behavior with cognitive and behavioral
change, we can mitigate further abuse and keep children with their parents if
possible.
Jamey and Katrina Madonna are the Founding Directors of
“Children of The Sonâ€, a non-profit organization for children who are victims
of abuse, neglect, poverty and abandonment who are living in foster care,
residential facilities and the inner-city. They currently operate a summer
recreation camp for girls on a 1000 acre ranch.
Mr. Madonna is raising the necessary capital to build a
permanent place of residence on his beautiful ranch for children ages 13 -21
who have run away, been abandoned or have “aged out†of the foster care system.
Jamey Madonna utilizes the very powerful Reverse Funnel
System, a marketing system for Global Resorts Network, to make thousands of
dollars per week to support this organization. His team of top income earners
will show you a way to live a life of prosperity and happiness. Join him today
and see how careful funds investment can result in actionable charity that can
change an entire generation.
Jamey Madonna