Why do we live in a country with a powerful ministry that moves foster children from home to home? How is this credible to a child? As compassionate humans, we cringe in disdain at the media stories regarding foster kids. Why do we hate this? It’s terribly wrong to hurt children causing irreversible damage yet it happens every day with the children under the supervised eye of the ministry governed in making decisions whether it protects a child or not? As a former foster youth, I speak candidly about children’s rights but due to the political red tape, there are minimal changes over the decades. My published life story was very explicit in the harm that falls on foster children that are moved, repeatedly into different homes. If social workers or administration even read the book which I know didn’t happen, they would reconsider the extreme trauma this action injects on these children. The pain they endure will more likely result in medications and god knows what else until they age out of foster care and hopefully find a safe direction, which is very unlikely. I want to express what to expect from ripping a child from one home to the next. First, there is a strong sense of anxiety from rejection and lovelessness that directly causes attachment disorder. This will infuse self-hate that becomes more ingrained with every move. Their school grades will get worse than they already are. Their trauma is riddled with pain that no one can understand, especially the child, themselves. On top of all that, children who go into a home with siblings could be permanently separated at any time without warning. Being too young to understand, the child will naturally see they are the problem and don’t deserve happiness, siblings, family or a permanent home. Truth be told, the ministry will eventually leave the child in a group home. As if losing biological family wasn’t horrible enough, foster homes can change yearly, monthly even weekly like mine so how can a child fit in or love anyone when the ministry cannot provide a stable foot on the ground? Who will love this foster child? No one! Just ask the child.
