I came into this topic not really knowing anything. And now that I am doing this topic I feel really good about it. I want to make it a “to do” to learn as many new things as I can before I die (sorry that sounded bad) but I want to learn new things. And I am really interested in this topic and I want to learn about it. I have a few friends who have been and is in the foster care system. And when I think about them and their families I honestly get a little sad. Because some of my friends have been bounced around from house to house for 9 years now. And they doesn’t keep relationships for too long. I’m basically the only exception. They have had a hard time talking to people that they have never met. And I think that that’s a great place to start. I think that people focus too much on how things would affect them and too little on how much it would affect others. And that's what it really comes down to when talking about DCF.
The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that there is one. And when I first came to learn about DCF I had no idea what it was about. And I imagine that many people don’t even know that there is actually a problem with the DCF organization. And other than speculation, I don’t really know all or a lot of the problems behind DCF.
I really want to learn:
Why kids are put in these situations?
How are kids put in these situations?
Who Are responsible?
Why don’t people help?
What can people do?
Why people foster?
I really think that after these questions are answered we will have a clear shot at helping these people in and out of the foster system.
Dear Lydia,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've become interested in this topic. Your questions are good ones, and you will be able to find answers to them with some digging.
DCF has been in the news quite a bit in the last two years, so you will find many articles online about many heart-wrenching cases. I think many people know that there is a problem with "the system," but the tricky part of the equation is identifying where these problems exist and what is being done to address them? The other tricky thing is that you are going to find all different kids of answers to your questions, and these will lead you in many different directions. You will have to, with your group, streamline your thinking into a narrowed-down direction.
My questions for you are:
Where do you plan on finding these answers?
Have you thought at all about with whom you plan to connect/interview?
What are your next steps in this process?
One thing I offer you: I have a colleague who recently, with his wife, decided to foster a young child. If you're interested, I could talk to him and see if he would be willing to answer some of your questions.
Let me know what I can do, as your reader, to help. This topic is very intriguing to me.
Courtney
Thank you! I agree with you. I think what could trip us up during receiving answers to these questions is the variety of responses we would get back. Not being able to really summarize things all together because of all the different responses. Thank you, that would be great!
DeleteHi Lydia (There are typos in this Lydia. Please forgive me as the edit function on the device I am using is not working the way I would like it to work.)
ReplyDeleteI admire how you have taken on this new topic with passion and curiosity. It speaks to who you are becoming as a learner.
I know that you already have interviewed someone who has been in foster care now it is time to branch out. I'll tack on to what Courtney said about interviews and offer a suggestion to next talk to a parent who has taken on the responsibility of fostering. I also think that talking with your school counselor to find out how South Burlingtn works with DCF would be really helpful. She obviously won't be able to tell you names, but she can tell you how the school works systematically with DCF. Something else you said touched me "Because some of my friends have been bounced around from house to house for 9 years now. And they doesn’t keep relationships for too long." What kind of supports are offered to kids in foster care? How do they get help to figure out who they are and to deal with how they have been bounced around? ( and maybe in thinking about that your guidance counselor would help here to connect you with someone who can answer that.)
I know you are planning on getting an interview in before Thanksgiving. Shoot me an email if I can help in any way.
best,
Laurie
Thank you, I am working on setting up an interview with my guidance counselor and seeing what goes on. Thank you for the feed back!
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