Dispelling Foster Care Myths

An opinion piece written for The Spectrum.com by Amy Bates.

Don't fall for the myths about foster care, adoption



The night before my first-born was scheduled to come into the world, I could not sleep. This was not only because our little "bundle of joy" decided to stick his foot into my rib, but I was just so excited by the thought of becoming his mother.

Here I am, years later, in much the same situation. As I write this article, it is the eve of our 16-year-old son being adopted into our family, and I find myself once again full of the kind of anticipation that does not allow my eyes to close.

Although there are similarities with this addition and our first one, there are some major differences. For one thing, this son will come to us pretty much grown, which is a good thing when you consider the difficulties that giving birth to a 5-foot tall, 80-pound boy might pose. Some might think a soon-to-be mother would be less than ecstatic when thinking about missing out on the baby stage and skipping right to the teen-age part, but not this mom. I am thrilled that most of that is behind me.

Since I have started writing for The Spectrum & Daily News, I have written about adoption and foster care as many times as they will let me. It is a vital part of who I am and a subject that I do not think gets enough attention. Children are suffering, and all of us need to step up and help those who need it most. I could spend my time quoting facts to you about the number of children who are waiting, how long they have to wait, or even the dire predictions made for children who "age out" of the system, but I am not sure that would motivate people to look at what they could do to help. I think it is only when we look at individual cases and hear their stories that we put a face on this heart-wrenching problem.
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The U.S. and Russia Sign New Adoption Agreement

The New York Times reports a new adoption accord signed by both countries today:
Ending a Rift, Russia and the United States Sign Adoption Accord

Help Give Inner City Kids New Experiences and Fun

The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit group that provides summer vacations to inner-city children from low-income communities, is looking for host families, mostly from the northeast area of the country.

About Fresh Air Children:
They are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open, outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

See the Fresh Air website for more information.

Foster Parent Association in Central Florida Needs Larger Meeting Space

This request is from a CGC board member.  Please contact us if you can offer any suggestions!

The foster parent association has asked me to help with their childcare when they have their monthly meetings. I agreed to help but the space that they are using to meet in is really small and the kids were all in a very small room with little to play with. I would love to find some churches who would be willing to donate space so that the foster parents could meet and I could watch the kids for them in a separate area. (Preferably a playground or kid-friendly space) We need a church that is in Seminole county and one that is in East Orange. If any of you have any ideas or contacts that I could ask, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for caring about foster kids and thanks for any help you may be able to give me!

22-Year Old is Foster Mom to 13 Ugandan Girls

Here is a great story from NPR about a young American woman who moved to Uganda to care for Ugandan orphans.  You can listen to the story or read the transcript here.

Book Review

Here is a short review from Christianity Today on the new book, Orphanology.
Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care
Tony Merida and Rick Morton (New Hope Publishers)

"Christians do not approach orphan care as mere humanitarians but as people adopted by God through the work of Jesus Christ. Orphanology provides the burgeoning orphan care movement with a gospel-centered theological foundation as well as a comprehensive plan for getting involved at many levels, including adoption, orphanage restoration, foster care, and transitional assistance. Between adoption stories, Tony Merida and Rick Morton offer a compelling picture of how the gospel motivates us to action on behalf of the fatherless."