Rant...

So, I'm talking to one of my best friends, who works for DFCS and who I can always count on to make my life seem easy compared to the CONSTANT drama from her job. She begins by telling met that they had just taken in a sibling group of three Hispanic kids in, ages eight months to five years. So naturally, my question is "are they together?" Her answer? "We didn't have anybody to take all three." Now, I know my friend. I know that she tried everything in her power to find the three kids a place together. So, what's the problem? She goes on to explain to me that one county over, there are ten to fifteen EMPTY foster homes, just waiting to take foster kids in. The problem? The county will not share! Come to find out, this is not uncommon. So of course, we start talking about the sad, sad state of foster care. She goes on to tell me that she has two Caucasian kids, under age three, that she cannot get into a stable foster placement. They are separated, of course, and the people that have them constantly call her and remind her that "they don't want little kids...this is not what they signed up for." Now, I know that finding homes for teenagers is impossible, so WHAT IS GOING ON here?? She goes on to tell me that there is a HUGE need for foster parents. What she is really telling me is that as soon as my baby is born, and Chuck and I feel ready, we have to help. You know what? I totally agree. If God has made it possible for me to stay home and be a mom, and since God has blessed me with a husband who gets it, why not? Now, here's the part that angers me, though. If and when we become foster parents, it will be through our county. Our county has a MUCH smaller Hispanic and African-American population than our neighboring county. Now, wouldn't it make too much sense to put scared, non-English speaking kids into a bi-lingual foster home? Well, according to my friend, if those kids are from another county, we'd better get ready for the fight of our lives. Now that is just plain ridiculous. How can something like that happen? How can three kids be separated, only because that neighboring county won't share? This is only one of many pitfalls of the foster care system. I sit back and think of my friend, slaving away every single day for these kids, often working until eight or nine at night, just because she loves "her kids." And then I am saddened, because I know that even someone with a heart of gold, who fights like a lion every day for foster kids (like she does) gets burned out on constantly being pushed into corners where kids are concerned. Can you imagine, she actually told me that she keeps a carseat in her car for transporting all the infants she has to take into custody, or to appointments. But, that's not the crazy part. She had the audacity to ask her DFCS office for one of those little head protectors that goes inside the carseat (you know, so the baby's head won't go all over the place). You know what they told her? They said, "No." When she asked why, they said, "It's not a mandatory piece of equipment!" Can you imagine? We give drugged up parents chance after chance, we provide them with parenting classes, drug rehab, bus tickets, jobs, and anything else they might need to "get back on their feet" but we can't provide an infant with a head and neck protector. It just makes me want to scream...