Reflective Essay: When I Was Placed Into Foster Care

It will be 5 years this June that I have been in the Foster Care System, I can still remember walking home from school smelling the fresh breeze of air, all the sweaty kids running to their cars waiting to head home from school, or to the ice cream trucks that all had the same foul smell of cheese and takis that followed every breeze that came near. There was a black car, the one time is what we referred them to, this was something that was not out of the ordinary to see around my home. But today was different, two men wearing business suits stepped out of it and went into my home. I stayed back just to get a glimpse of what was going on. I see my mom rush out of the house and into the car, little did I know this would be the last time I would see her as a

I have for some experience with the Foster Care System. I use to provide Foster Care in my own for numerous years for children of all ages. In my opinion, the Foster Care System needs a lot of work, however, the quality of care depending on who the case of a social worker and the Foster parents is for the child. Your provider 's who truly care about the child and really want to make a difference. Then there are those providers who simply do it as a business and for the money. Most of my Foster children were either children I knew or family members, so my investment in their lives was truly base on love and caring for the well-being of the child. I think in the Foster Care System a lot more emphasis need to be placed on plays and the children

When you get older are you considering going into foster care? My answer to this question is yes. There are three reasons as to why I would like to participate in the foster care programs. First is because I want to help the children who are not able to be with their parents at the moment. Second is because i love children. Lastly is because i am participating in one of the programs right now.

During that time, the relationship that with my step-father was much stronger and my relationship with my siblings (at that time my brother was 8, my sister was 3 and my newborn baby delivered in the facility and then was sent to live with us.) This was the most challenging time of my life and with people who were important to me coming in and out of my life. I worked to keep my siblings protected from the truth about our mother, and a longed for the day she was coming home.

The day I got taken away was a day I remember like no other. It feels like it just happened yesterday. The police came to my friend’s house, where I was staying for the weekend and came to pick me up. I went home to get some clothes so I didn't have to wear the same ones for a couple of weeks, lucky for me it was in the summer so I didn’t have to worry about what people thought. When I went into my social worker's office they explained to me what was going on, and then I began to cry because I felt like I was never going to be able to go home again I felt as if I had lost both of my parents forever. And my biggest fear was losing both of my sisters also.

We had a total of 18 children placed with us during that time – ranging in age from one day old to 16 years old. There were 3 sets of twins among them – two sets of premature newborn twins with many medical concerns and issues and a physically abused 9-week-old infant. I had always wanted to try foster parenting, but knew I’d have to have the right partner to do a good job. My maternal grandfather said often when I was a child that if he had enough money he would build a big house and take in all children that needed homes and hire a nurse and teacher to live with them. I never forgot that. My husband who has no children of his own, turned out to be the perfect foster Dad! His grandmother had taken in foster children years ago. While we felt we were prepared to be foster parents, thanks to a GREAT social worker, who spent lots of time with us, sharing with us all the possible difficulties and stresses, we were concerned about our abilities to handle any medical concerns. As it turned out, we had many children with serious medical concerns – but we also had amazing medical teams who were supportive and encouraging and educated us in care of these special children. And locally, there were support agencies who sent

Siblings have a bond that ties them to one another for their whole lives, whether they live together or hundred miles apart. There are some situations though that split up a sibling relationship like divorce or foster care. Foster care can be the glue to hold the children's future together, but it is the knife that cuts siblings apart. The splitting of siblings especially in foster care can be traumatic and detrimental to those children. Due to regulations of age or number of children allowed in a foster home, siblings must be split up which can cause behavioral, psychological, relationship issues with one or all of the siblings.

For most of my life, I felt like a stranger to everyone around me, including my family. It shouldn’t have been shocking; I was adopted. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment I knew that, because in a way I always knew. I am an Asian-American from South Korea, and I was brought into this country on August 4th, 1999. My adoptive parents refer to this day as my “Gotcha Day.”

Who knew that something so beautiful could be so difficult? Adoption led me to a season of surrender, hurting, and healing, but most importantly, a place of grace and perception.

After reading the book The Other Wes Moore many themes seem to nudge at you to realize many things that happen that you might not notice in everyday life. One of the life lessons that really plays a role in my life is loss, faith, and redemption. Loss. This word can mean different things depending on the person and their experiences. Loss might mean an event that causes immoderate feelings of despondency. To another person, it might be so simple as losing an object that meant a lot to them. These losses can impact the rest of someone 's life. I have experienced this feeling within the last year. My mom has been really sick recently and lots of things have changed even over the past few years, but only a few months ago would it really make the biggest impact in my opinion. In the novel The Other Wes Moore there are two boys named Wes Moore that goes through many struggles through life. One of the Wes Moore’s is now excelling with many recognitions and has become very successful even after all of the struggles he went through. Contrastingly the “other” Wes Moore is now in prison for the rest of his life due to an armed robbery. Before his sentence many things played a role in where he ended up today, including of a loss that would forever change his life.

Even though I went through a lot at such a young age, it has shaped me in every possible way. I was exposed to a whole different language and culture, but I was able to succeed through my strong desire of success and dedication. I am thankful for every challenge that I had to go through because if it was not for them, I would not be the person I am

Well...I was 6 when Child Protective Services came to get us. I lived with my mom and my three sisters, the youngest was Donna she was 5 & Lizzy was 7 and Mary was 10. I remember most of my family lived in the same neighborhood like my two Aunts and my uncle and grandpa and grandma. There was an occasional gunshot, sometimes there was a fire truck rushing down our street . We lived on top of a hill at 1015 Norwich in Grand Rapids. I still remember every detail of the house we lived in.

My junior year I came home right after school with my brother. My parents were both home and asked to speak with my brother, Garret, and I in the kitchen when we put all of our school bags away. The family and I gathered in the kitchen and my parents started talking. And as they were talking I tried my hardest to hold back any tears and get rid of that funny feeling in my throat. As my parents explained to us that they were filing for a divorce. They assured us it was nothing we did, but completely their own choice. I stood next to my brother, who had tears streaming down his face. I felt like I had to stay strong for my brother's sake, so I could reassure him that everything would be okay. But deep down I was hurting just like he was. After meeting in the kitchen, my brother and I went to our rooms. Our parents came in one at a time to talk to us and about how we were feeling. They made sure to tell us that they loved us a bunch, and everything would be okay. As I started crying, both my mom and dad would cry too. They didn’t like that Garrett and I were feeling this way. I remember going to bed crying silently, because I wanted to be the tough one. The next morning I got up and got ready for school, trying to control my swelling eyes from the night before.

The increase in youth entering foster care and the poor outcomes of young adults exiting the foster care system continues to be a rising dilemma in America. This qualitative study will examine how Youth and Family Services Division Child Protective Services engage foster youth in early independent living programs and how mentors can help support the goal of youth adult’s transition plan that aids them to become self-sufficient once they exit foster care. Youth and Family Services protect the well-being needs of children who are at risk and provide services to families by increasing their capability to become self-supporting (Youth and Family Services Division, 2015). According to Schleicher (2012), recommended that there is a need to examine

An accomplishment that saw me transition from childhood to adulthood was when I got my Eagle Scout award. Since the award occurred so close my eighteenth birthday and I had been working on it for so long. This accomplishment allowed me to look back on my childhood and reflect on everything that I had had to do to earn this award but more importantly reflect on what I had learned in my travel through scouting. This was not only a growing up process for me but for my community and family.