Illustration by YC
My son came home from two years in foster care a scared, angry and confused 6-year-old. I kept telling myself that his fear, anger and confusion would all go away when life was “normal” again, but life never really got normal for us.
Lies and Stealing
I had already successfully raised three children when my youngest son was born. But my son’s father died unexpectedly when I was pregnant with my son, and … Read More
Illustration by Melanie Leong
Arietta Slade, City University of New York professor of clinical psychology and co-director of Minding the Baby, a mother-infant program at the Yale Child Study Center, describes the impact that removal can have on children and parents and the support they need to reconnect:
Q: How does placement in foster care affect children?
A: You want to think about it like this: We survive by being connected to other people. It’s the … Read More
Illustration by Kingslee Gourrick
My daughter had some very serious problems when she started first grade. Kindergarten wasn’t too smooth, either, so on the first day of school this year I was encouraging her, saying, “This year is a new year for you.” I had high hopes.
A Difficult First Day
I dressed my daughter in her uniform—yellow tights with a blue jumper and a long sleeved yellow shirt. But as we approached the school, my … Read More
Illustration by Elizabeth Deegan
I was 9 years old when I started getting drunk. I would sit in my friend’s house in her brother’s room where the walls were black and the lights were black and everything glowed in the dark. It was 1969. As she played slow music I’d drink Mad Dog 20-20 and cry because the pain I felt was overwhelming.
I cried because my first memories were of getting hit by my … Read More
Illustration by Tamika Ono-Knight
Under federal law, parents typically have only 15 months to prove that they can safely reunify with their children. For parents struggling with addiction, that’s a short time to break the cycle of relapse and recovery. Yet research shows that children in foster care do better when they have parents or other biological family members in their lives. Here, LaShanda Taylor, associate professor of law at the University of the … Read More
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