Last October my boyfriend and I had our small wedding ceremony at City Hall. We already had a baby girl, Emma, and I was close to delivering number two. My mother came to stay with us for the weekend, and at one point she went out to the store and didn’t return until about three hours later. It was clear that she’d been drinking, and I could smell the booze on her breath.
Read More
I’m locked up on an assault charge. I got seven flat. My boys were 9 and 10 and my daughter was 6 when I got arrested.
I can’t say much about my case, but what led me here is that I was in a very abusive relationship with my kids’ father. He began using drugs and became physically abusive toward the kids and me.
I Got Stuck
I wish that … Read More
I was adopted from foster care when I was 5 years old. I didn’tremember my birth family and didn’t know I was adopted until I was about 9. One day I was playing tag and running around the playground with a friend after school.
When my adoptive mother, Mrs. Anderson, pulled up in her little blue Pinto, my friend said, “Who is that?”
I told her, “That’s my mom.”
“No, … Read More
One day last fall I went to an anger management class. It was in a neighborhood where I used to get high. It didn’t even go through my mind that this could be a trigger for me. I believed I was strong but I was not.
At the time, I was consumed by feeling powerless and alone. My son, Brandan, had been in foster care for about a year. ACS took him when I was jailed … Read More
As a parent advocate at a foster care agency, I work with parents to help them reunify with their children. In ten years of working with families, I’ve seen the positive and negative impact of ASFA.
For children whose parents cannot or will not change their behaviors, and who are lucky enough to find caring adoptive parents, ASFA can provide permanency, stability and a loving family. But for parents who want to … Read More
