Systems systems systems. It's been 2 months since I wrote a blog for this blog. I gotta tell ya, I've been blogged down in systems this summer. My own personal family drama has put me in touch with way more than I ever wanted to know about California Social Services and rules and regulations affecting the senior citizens in this state. Systems are necessary and important, but the needs of the individuals they serve are often sacrificed in order for the system to serve the whole... which brings me back to this blog...
I write about kids in the foster care system who are eligible for adoption. In each entry, I show a video introducing you to a child who is waiting for a permanent forever family. The videos are produced by the Children's Action Network and can also be seen on their website, along with many more, and lots of info on foster child adoptions.
The children I introduce live within the California child welfare system, which is a government entity full of rules and regulations that are designed to protect the nearly 80,000 abused and neglected children in our state. That it does. It makes sure they are housed, clothed, and fed. It makes sure they go to school. It tries to address their medical needs if they have any. This is great and it's a good thing we have it. But no child should be raised in a system. A system isn't a parent. Even the system knows this, which is why the Children and Family Services Division puts so much effort into finding permanent homes for the kids who are never going to be reunited with their birth parents.
Sometimes a child will get lucky and be placed with foster parents who are loving and supportive and who consider that child their own. But for many that doesn't happen. Kids are moved around from home to home, to group home and institutions, until they are 18, when they are considered adults and the system is finished with them.
Today I'm introducing Eunice. She's an 11-year-old sprite. Full of light and energy. If she had wings she could fly. She loves ballet and fried chicken. She does a mean cartwheel.
Oh, and please check out Gerardo, Emma Jean and all the other great kids at the childrensactionnetwork.org. Click on Change a Child's Life.
You can learn more about the children featured in these films and find more information about foster care adoption at ChildrensActionNetwork.org or by calling 800-525-6789.