Self Evaluation

I am proud of my website. I am proud that I've stuck with it and took time to invest into it. Making sure each article that I read and write about is accurate. Making sure each story is relevant and as recent as possible and connected to whats going in our world today. This is a subject very near and dear to my heart and I am so glad that I was given an opportunity to research about and learn more about it. Adoption and the Foster Care system are rarely talked about, publicly, in our country. There often ignored until something tragic happens that captures the attention of the country for a while and then the subject returns to oblivion. I believe that I am doing my part to bring attention to this subject and the thousands of innocent children whom it affects. Few classes offer this opportunity to use a the new trend of blogging to do active research about topics we're actually interested in. I think I'v e done a good job of expressing my opinions on this site in a professional manner while also reporting the truth.

Interracial Adopting

Within the last few years interracial adoption has become quite popular. Still is rouses complaints with in the Black community when they see a White family raising a Black child. Blacks feel slighted as if the child is merely an accessory amongst the family's many collectable items. Some Blacks even become angry when they here about celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Mary-Louise Parker, and most recently Sandra Bullock with their Black children. My question is why? Why is it such a big deal who is raising the child if they love them and care for them? The main concern  for a child's well being should be if they are in a loving environment. As far as we know they are. If the tables were turned and Whites refused the adopt Black children, Blacks would be outraged. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be there in a heart beat. Some are upset that only African babies are being adopted by Whites and not African American babies (Sandra's child is from New Orleans). My answer to that is as difficult as life is for Black children in America, its far worse in many African countries. So, why does it matter to us who adopts Black children when its a well known fact that many Blacks do not adopt and haven't for some time? Well I guess it goes back to that painful stigma that White women, especially wealthy White woman, raise their children better than Black women. That Black women are some how unfit to take care of their own children. Remember the anger you felt when you watch Halle Berry's character cry in the bathroom when her child was taken away from her in Losing Isaiah? Remember that infamous line on the movie when Sam Jackson's character says, "Black babies belong with Black mothers"? This is why. Blacks feel like someone who is outside of their race cannot love a Black child like they can. I don't. I cringe when I hear comments like that. I think that if you truly love a child unconditionally, it doesn't have anything to do with their race. You will take care of them no matter what.  If we were to ask Theo and Mikaela Spielberg, Steven Spielberg's adopted children, how their lives were they would probably tell us that they had the love and support of their parents. Let's open our minds to the World. It is ok for family's to adopt children out of their race. Martin Luther King famously said people should be judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character; he wasn't just talking about "us."

Sandra Bullock Son is my 'crown prince'

Campaign to increase Black Adoption

Is is a well known fact that African American children are adopted at a lesser rate than White children. However, few know what is being done about it. A few years a go a study, by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, showed that African American children make up 15% of American children. However, they make up 32% of the 510,000 children in the Foster care system. Although there was a law passed, the Multiethnic Placement Act passed in 1994, that said that it is illegal to delay/deny adoption because of race.   In response the these reports, the Advertising Council created ads, after requests from AdoptUsKids to promote African American adoption.  To commercials were direct toward a primarily African American audience, since they are more likely to adopt Black children (Single, Black women make up 2/3 of Black adoptive parents). It is great to know that there is research being done and that people are taking notice of the lack of Black adoption, but we nee more.  We need more families, not just African Americans, to adopt Black children. It is a disservice to Black children that they are being forgotten about. Every child deserves a loving environment to grow up in; regardless of gender or race.

~Courtesy of USA Today, 2009  

Minorities are more likely to end up in Foster care

In Oregon, a study was done that showed the child abuse rate for Whites and minorities is virtually the same. Forty-one percent of Oregon children endure some type of child abuse. Out of the minorities, the abuse rates for Native Americans was high and the abuse rate for Latino was the lowest out of all of the minorities. In fact, Native Americans are six times more likely to be placed in foster care than Whites and Blacks are four times more likely; this isn't just the case in Oregon, it is throughout the country. Native Americans and Blacks usually are not returned to their families, and if they are they spend more time in the system. Latinos are returned to their families more often than other races. A study done by Portland University, showed that some minorities are disproportionally represented in the system. Multnomah, an Oregon county, is trying to change the way juvenile judges look at cases, to decrease racial bias. These statistics are spell binding. Racism plays a huge part into which children are placed in the system. It also affects how the judges, which ultimately affects how many children are taken into foster care. Though it is nice to know that something is being done to change this I wonder how long will it take? What is being done, exactly? How many more children have to spend their lives in foster care simply because of the color of their skin? States all around the country should be trying to change their foster care systems as well.

~Courtesy of Michelle Cole, OregonLive.com

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

Crystal's Story

Years ago my Mother told me something that sparked my interest in child care. She informed that as children move through the foster system, from house to house, they lose their personal belongings. Usually these children have no place to store their things, such as a suitcase. They lose all childhood photos and toys, and even clothing; many times they are left only with the clothes on their backs. Crystal Martinez is an 18 year old who has lost most of her belongings. She was neglected and abused by her biological family and was taken in by the Texas Child Protective Services at age seven. Three years ago, in 2009, she was sent to the San Antonio residential treatment center.
When she completed her treatment six months later, she went to go claim her belongings from the State, that had taken them in plastic bags when she was seven years old. It was then when she realized that most of what they had taken had been lost. Luckily, Crystal found help in a woman named Mary Christine Reed, who helped her track down two boxes (half-full) of her personal belongings, which was a far cry from what she had given them. There are 30, 000 children in the system and this scenario is very common. However, these children are not as fortunate as Crystal, and often times never see their mementos. Hopefully, more people will see these types of stories and do something about it. A solution to this problem would be to provide suitcases and/or storage bins to foster children. At the time when my Mother informed me of this problem we planned to create a foundation to do just that, it did not happen. I still hope to one day create some kind of program to help children in the system with these types of problems.

Courtesy of the New York Times