A three-year-old named Marcus was found wandering the streets in an Ohio town and then quickly placed in foster care. Some time later, Marcus was found bound and gagged, wrapped in a blanket and dead in a closet. His foster parents decided to put him there when they left town for a few days to attend a family reunion. The temperature outside was in the 90’s. The temperature in the closet went well over 100. Marcus died in a closet, tied up like an animal. The flesh on his feet was blistered and torn from his struggle to get free… He was just three-years-old.
He was just a baby.
“A half-million children like Marcus are drifting through foster care, dependent on a system that too often fails to meet their needs. Blaming the current system will not fix it, and looking the other way is no longer an option. As long as there are children, there will be children who cannot depend on their parents to take care of them. As long as the government shoulders responsibility for their daily care, there will be children who suffer. Until the community steps forward to right the wrongs of vulnerable kids, their childhoods will vanish, along with our hope for a better future for all of our children…”
(from INVISIBLE KIDS, by Holly Schlaack)
Marcus’ family failed him. The foster system failed him. The community failed him. But more than half a million foster children like Marcus are still here… waiting to be given a chance at a childhood. We can’t fail them.
I live in Jefferson County, Alabama. In my city alone, there are more than 2,000 children in the foster system and less than 200 “approved” foster families willing to help.
How is this possible? What’s the matter with us?
5 comments:
How can I (a single, white, 28yr old male)help? This is a sincere question. Thank you.
-Ben
It's been my dream for several years to adopt and possibly be a foster parent if I ever get married. My friend's mom has said that perhaps adoption isn't an option for a lot of people b/c they don't have the capacity to love someone else's children like they're their own. I can see that being true, but it saddens me to think that this would be true of Christians, who are called to love, specifically orphans. All of this to say--stories like that of this innocent 3-year-old make me even more determined to save the life of as many 'invisible kids' as I can. Thanks for telling us about this book; I'll have to check it out.
My church is a strong supporter of adoption, so I have this issue in front of me all the time. Can I confess what I think is the matter with me? I am overwhelmed raising the three kids I have. I struggle all the time to be a good parent, and I feel like I fail all the time. I ask myself if it is fair to take in another child, whom I fear I will also fail?
I think is overwhelming to me to raise my kids because I have not learned to really rely on the Holy Spirit. I think too often I rely on my own strength. Without Him, we can do nothing, and the orphans we are not caring for bear the consequences of our self-rule.
What's the matter with you? Didn't you know we have a whole new site, Billy?
for the past two years i have shared my home with three foster kids and for the last three years i've worked in a group home for foster kids - which i just quit to go back to school to get an mfa - so i've seen a few things about the "system" and the people working in it. in answer to your sincere question, ben, there are more ways to help than ten of you you have time for. contact an agency and ask what you can do. and then do it. easy peasy. ha.
and dt, this question of having the ability to love other children like they are your own has been one that i've thought of a lot and a very valid one, but, at the same time, a moot point. you give the love you have to give, as good as you have to give. because love is an action and not an emotion. it is possible to love children equally well because we can serve them equally well - even if the emotional "high" of love isn't there. i know no one likes the idea of loving a kid and not feeling like they're your own, but that kind of emotional attachment takes years and years to develop and if the good people wait to feel it before they act, kids will die tied up in closets.
and... i've gotta say it: married shmarried. go, lady, go! you can love them alone, too. (though i admit it is more fun with a boy.)
and... also, i'm single. in case that sounds patronizing.
and... i'm not trying to increase my blog traffic because i really don't care about that, but, if any of you want to read a piece i wrote about my work in the group home you can find it here:
http://acinnamonnest.blogspot.com/2009/03/stray.html
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