April Raintree Themes

1. What can we do to fix foster care and what can we do to make foster care easier in the world? What can we teach children that are in the foster care system before they age out?

They Cage the Animals at Night is a book written by Jennings Michael Burch in 1985.The book was based on true events that occurred in his life during the late 1940’s and early1950’s. Burch described the hardship of his life from staying at foster institutions and foster homes. They Cage the Animals at Night was not only a depiction of Jennings Burch’s life, but it also showed the way children had to face physical and emotional abuse in the foster care system. A large portion of the book revealed and described the rigorousness that Jennings faced alone. His experience of emotional and physical abuse exposed how children were treated like prisoners. This book raised awareness to authorities on the kind of treatment happening and proposed a change for foster institutions and homes to be monitored.

Richard Wagamese’s semi-autobiographical novel Keeper’n Me paints the portrait of a young man’s experience—one shared by many Indigenous peoples across Canada—revealing a new perspective on Aboriginal life. First Nations have often been romanticized and the subject of Western fantasies rather than Indigenous truth concerning Aboriginal ways rooted in “respect, honor, kindness, sharing and much, much love” (Wagamese, 1993 quote). Keeper’n Me tells the story of Garnet Raven, an Ojibway, who is taken from his family as a child by the Children’s Aid Society, and placed in a number of (white) foster families, where his Indigenous identity is stripped away. He serves time for drug charges, during which he receives a letter from his brother, inviting him back to the White Dog Reserve to rekindle ties with his people and learn about Ojibway culture, traditions, spirituality, and philosophy with the help of his community and his teacher, Keeper, an elder and recovering alcoholic who was instructed in his earlier years by Raven’s grandfather. In viewing the novel through the theoretical frameworks of the “Middle Ground”, “Orientalism”, and “Agency”, Keeper’n Me explores Canadian-Indigenous relations in a moving, yet humorous way, as well as the meaning of “being” a First Nation in modern society,

We all end up lucky or unfortunate. We get lucky with the parents that love and care for us, and unfortunate with the ones who do not want us, or don’t care for us. For foster kids, they go through several houses with several different families. Sometimes these families are not the ideal family, and there is abuse and neglect in these homes. Foster kids never really get a break until they are adopted by a loving family. Sadly, they usually are more unfortunate than lucky. Treating foster kids poorly and placing them in bad homes just to get your job done is not okay. The foster care system is failing kids badly, because they are more emotional, scared, and most have developmental issues because of what they have been through. According to many authors the statement about foster care systems failing is true.

The straggles of the kids whose parents are not at home a whole lot are shown in the novel Williwaw. Which is written by Tom Bodett and published in 1999, is a story about two kids from Alaska, Ivan and September who are 12 and 13 years old, they got into the trouble because they did not follow their dads rules. The main theme “challenges of life” can clearly be seen within the novel Williwaw. For Ivan and September challenges of taking care for themselves means staying at home alone for several weeks because their father is not home and their mother died a few years ago. That means that they have to look after themselves and stay out of the troubles and the most important follow their dads rules. Their rude neighbour Mr. Berger was not any help either. He accused Ivan and September for stealing from him since they were born. It

Every year, 2 million children come into contact with the child welfare system due to investigations of parental abuse or neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004). A recent policy implemented by Anytown’s Department of Job and Family Services pertains to the issue of child endangerment. It states that, “any household having one or more documented offenses of domestic violence, child abuse, or drug or alcohol related offenses committed by the mother, father, guardian, and/ or caregiver, will result in the removal of any child or children from the home.” The child will be placed in the care of the state until documentation can be provided on the offender, whereas they are “offense free” for a period of no less than six

Foster care was put into effect to help children out of dangerous situations. The main goal of foster care was only meant to be a temporary placement for children. This allows the parents to receive the help they need to make their home an ideal environment for the child or children. The foster system fails to provide adequate support for children in its care. If the foster system could recognize the issues it faces, perhaps it would be able to operate more efficiently. Perhaps one solution to this problem is to provide a transitioning program and offer counseling sessions to better support mental health and emotional stability.

The voices of Indigenous children are unheard and purposely ignored. This is portrayed through the literature of Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Despite receiving apologies from Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations families appears to have detrimental effects on the native children. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, by family members who abuse their kids because of alcohol addictions, and the increasing discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities.

Domestic violence in Aboriginal community is a cause for concern regarding Aboriginal women 's health and safety. According to Kubik, Bourassa, and Hampton (2009) “In Canada, Aboriginal women have faced destruction in their communities and families as a result of multiple forms of oppression. Aboriginal women experience the highest rates of violence and abuse of any population in Canada”(p.29). Domestic violence is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary (2015) as “ the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior”. The objective is to look at the cause of domestic violence aimed at Aboriginal

Studies have shown that thirty percent of children in foster care remain in care for more than two years. The longer children stay in care the more placements they are likely to experience. More than half the children who enter the foster care system will be moved to a different home in their first six months. It is also found that children care for more than two years will experience about three different placements. Nearly all of the moves have nothing to do with bettering the well being of the child. Many of the placements are done to carry out the systems policies and other placements are done if foster parents don’t meet the child needs. Children are less likely to be moved many times if a foster family is prepared to meet the child 's challenging needs. The foster care system is also in need of more social workers that will ensure that the child is placed in a good family so that they are not moved several times. Plenty of placements are also done if the child is initially placed in short-term care but needs to be moved to long term. However, the more changes a child experiences decreases the chance of them returning home or being adopted. There are many children that are stuck in the foster care system because they do not have a biological family or an adoptive

Richard Wagamese brings to light the troubles of aboriginals living in Northern Canada in his book Indian Horse. Wagamese demonstrates the maltreatment aboriginals have faced at the hands of the Zhaunagush and their residential schools. The disgusting truth of the treatment of aboriginals in Canada is shown through recovering alcoholic, Saul Indian Horse, who recounts his life from the time he lived in the bush with his native family, the Anishinabeg, to the the time he checked into The New Dawn Treatment Centre.

The voices of Indigenous children are unheard and purposely ignored. This is portrayed through the literature of Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Despite both apologies from Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations children appears to have detrimental effects on the life of a child. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, family members who abuse their children because they consume high amounts of alcohol, which has a negative impact on the child, and discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities.

Cultural competence is “the ability to communicate with, understand and effectively interact with people across cultures” (EYLF, 2015)

Thesis statement: Research so far reveals that children with reactive attachment disorder cannot feel genuine emotion because they fail to develop a secure attachment which leads to underdeveloped primary emotions, neurological deficiencies all of which result in inappropriate emotional behaviors that follow them into adulthood.

B. The Gladney Center for adoption has been committed to providing permanent and loving families for children born in the United States and who are entrusted to their care since 1887.