According to Children’s Rights, on any given day, there are almost 428,000 American children in the foster care system. And unfortunately, despite our best intentions, this system is rife with flaws.
Children’s Rights explain, “Some [children] will be separated from their siblings. Others will be bounced from one foster care placement to another, never knowing when their lives will be uprooted next. Too many will be further abused in systems that are supposed to protect them. And instead of being safely reunified with their families— or moved quickly into adoptive homes— many will languish for years in foster homes or institutions.”
Jamie C., a blogger at Foster the Family, regularly fosters children who have been separated from their biological parents.
The Spruce says, oftentimes, children enter the foster care system as a result of being abused, neglected or abandoned. However, in rare cases, it may be a result of their parents’ incarceration or death, or even school truancy.
In a piece that went viral after being shared on the Love What Matters Facebook page, Jamie discusses meeting a 2-year-old foster child for the very first time.
“She walks in confidently with a smile,” she writes. “She knows the drill.”
“In her two years of life, she’s spent 5 months in foster care. In her five months in care, she’s been in 4 different homes.”
Jamie introduces herself to her newest foster, calling her sweetie and asking her if she’d like to meet the other children of the house.
She writes, “She wanders around the other kids for approximately 11 minutes before she runs into the room with a smile and says, ‘Look, mommy!’
“To me.
“The woman she met 11 minutes before.”
Jamie explains that this little girl does not understand what a mother is.
“To this little girl, ‘mommy’ meant the female adult of the house, the lady who reached something you couldn’t and refilled your juice. Having five ‘mommies’ in 5 months, she hadn’t yet had the chance to learn what mommy meant.”
But Jamie doesn’t express sadness for the little girl— instead, she expresses hope.
She notes that the little girl is young and has a biological mother working hard to get her back. Not to mention, a foster parent ready to support her if bio mom can’t pull through.
“This little girl would know what mommy meant, ” she writes.
“This little girl would have a mommy.”
Jamie’s message, which highlights the importance of a good foster parent in a foster kid’s life, has garnered over 20,000 reactions and 1,800 shares.
Many of the comments are from foster kids or foster parents themselves, with many sharing their experiences in the system.
It’s clear that the American foster care system definitely has its flaws— but each day, people like Jamie are making a difference.
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