Lydia's Story

Lydia was the definition of a bad girl. She and her neighborhood "bad girls," were constantly in some form of trouble. They shoplifted, skipped school, and indulged in underaged drinking. Her mother, a single mother with three other children, became concerned and made a drastic decision. She put her youngest child in foster care. She filed a "persons in need of supervision" petition, and Lydia was placed in the system. This is when her things became complicated. Lydia tried marijuana in her first foster home. She experienced different forms of abuse in the first couple of foster homes. At one of her foster homes she was beat up by the neighborhood girls. In another she was bitten by a pit bull, she is left with a scar on her leg as a reminder of the attack. Many of her foster parents were in simply for the money, which is all too familiar to foster children around the country. When it was time for Lydia to "age out" of the system, when she turned eighteen, her caseworker stepped up to the plate to make sure she had somewhere to go. Her caseworker reached out to different programs to cover Lydia's living expenses. Her rent is covered by Human Resources Administration. The New York Times Neediest Cases also helped pay for her move-in expenses. I shared this story to show how a caseworker's participation in foster child's life is essential. A case worker's job is to be the advocate for the child. Many children, in the system, have case workers who couldn't care less for them. Lydia's is one of promise. With her rent paid for her, all she has to worry about is finishing school and getting a job. Her focus is solely on her future...

Courtesy of The New York Times