Keeping Siblings Together In Foster Care and in Families It’s hard to imagine the fear that a child can feel when they are suddenly removed from the only home that they have ever known. Probably the next worst thing would be getting separated from their siblings when they enter foster care. Despite ChildNet’s best efforts to keep siblings together or to reunite those who are separated, this can sometimes be unavoidable. Siblings In Foster Care Adopting Sibling Groups The issues influencing sibling adoption are similar to those of foster care; however, adoption’s 'forever' nature makes it even harder. When siblings are shown together in a Heart Gallery photo, it means that a judge has determined that it’s necessary for their well-being to stay together. Despite this, the Heart Gallery still gets inquiries from people asking if they can adopt only the younger children in the group. People don’t always realize how devastating it can be to be separated from your only remaining family. Particularly for families who already have children of their own, adding three or more children on a permanent basis can simply be more than they feel that they can handle. Often, they don’t think they can provide enough individual attention to so many children or they don’t think that they can afford it (See box below).

“Foster parents remain in family’s life”

     Here at A Family For Every Child, we love receiving good news and stories from the community regarding foster care.  It lets us know that we are doing our job and reminds us of the good and humanity in others.

      Today’s story comes from Coos Bay, Oregon.  This story does not begin on a positive note as the first sentence is as follows, “A day before giving birth to her son, Linn Thomas took her last hit of methamphetamine” (Richardson).  Upon the birth of her child, Linn Thomas discovered that she would not be able to take her baby home from the hospital.  This was due to her erratic lifestyle and probable inability to raise a child safely.

     Linn was devastated but motivated.  She said, “I’m going to make the changes to get my son back.  Whatever it takes” (qtd. in Richardson).  And that is what she did.

     Ron and Leslie Barntses took the boy into their home for foster care.  During the year he was in their care, the boy grew and learned while his mother did the same.  Leslie has helped Linn into motherhood, teaching her everything from proper nutrition to bedtime routines. 

     The Barntses have gone out of their way to help this developing family.  Even after the foster time was over, Thomas’ son still spends time with the Barntses, about four days a week.  This also gives Linn some time to learn from The Barntses hands on. 

    There are many different forms of mentoring.  Adult to youth, youth to you, adult to adult.  In this care, the Barntses voluntarily taught Linn about being a mother, both by example and hands on.  Mentors provide a strong, positive support for those in need, working to develop a strong sense of self-confidence and knowledge. 

     Linn Thomas has remained sober for over three years, completing several treatment programs to prove she is capable of raising her son.  With the ongoing help from the Barntses, Linn feels confident in her abilities to raise a loving family.  “Thomas lives for the little pleasures in life now and said her goal is to become the best mother she can be” (Richardson). 

     On this most recent Mother’s Day, Linn’s little boy looked at her during a bath and said, “Happy Mother’s Day. I love you.”  Linn couldn’t believe it, so she asked the boy again and he repeated the same sentence without hesitation. 

     These are the stories that motivated us and make our day brighter here at A Family For Every Child.  We do our best every day to try to find loving, permanent families for every child and stories like this fuel our work and keep hope alive and well.      

Read More at

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/foster-parents-remain-in-family-s-life/article_a5273e46-1745-549e-b86c-ba917774f6c2.html

International adoption vs. local adoption

After a family decides to adopt they next have to decide whether they want to adopt nationally or internationally. There are children all over the world who are in need of forever families and many Americans have made the decision to adopt internationally.

Because of pop culture it seems as if everyone is adopting internationally. Celebrities such as Brangelina, Madonna, Meg Ryan, and most recently Charlize Theron. The TV show Modern Family also features a gay couple who adopted a daughter, Lily, from Asia. But, despite all the attention in pop culture, recent statistics came out that showed that international adoptions in America are at a 15 year low.

The number one scare about adopting international i s the fear that the child might be a victim of child trafficking. The fact that by adopting a child parents helped to take their child away from their family rather than just trying to provide a better life for a the child. The latest international adoption gone wrong involves a young Guatemalan girl who was allegedly kidnapped as a child and brought to the U.S. to be adopted.  Currently the United States refuses to return the girl because at the time of the adoption the U.S. and Guatemala had not signed the Hague Abduction Convention. I can only imagine what the adoptive parents are going through knowing that their daughter had a mom who loved her combined with the thought that their daughter might not be able to be their daughter anymore. It's enough to make any prospective adoptive parent nervous.

Dr. Jane Aronson, the CEO of Worldwide Orphas Foundation, sites a Glopbal Orphan Crisis as being the trouble with international adoption, not trafficking. She believe that instead of pouring money into good adoption practices the money should go towards helping the mothers or families giving up their children.

There are a lot of opinions, both positive and negative, about international adoption. No matter where you stand on the issue the fact stands that there are thousands of kids all over the world who are waiting to find their forever families and adoption should always looked at as a positive.

That being said, how do you feel about international adoption vs. domestic adoption?

Psychotropic Medications and Foster Children

A 2011 study by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that foster children were prescribed psychotropic drugs at higher rate than non foster children. The study analyzed five states: Oregon, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas and Michigan. Kids in these states were 2.7 to 4.5. times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs.

In Oregon 19.7 percent of children in foster care were on psychotropic drugs compared to 4.8 percent of non foster children.

A psychotropic drug is defined as being any drug that has the ability to affect/alter the mind, emotions and behavior. As per an ABC article, the five most common category of prescription psychotropic drugs include anti-psychotics, antidepressants, ADHD drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, and mood stabilizers. The article lists the specific side effects of each category of drugs. These side effects range from weight fluctuation, sleeping problems to increased suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents.

Another ABC exclusive on 20/20 interviews some of the children who were prescribed these drugs along with some of their foster parents and  doctors. What they found was frightening. There were kids who weren't even teenagers that had been prescribed multiple psychotropic drugs at the same time. Children who had been taking drugs since they were four years old. Doctors who spent less than ten minutes with foster care children before prescribing psychotropic drugs. Most of the children in the investigation had advocates, usually their foster parents, who saw that something needed to change. They fought for these children and they were all weaned off their medication and began to make significant improvements in all aspects of their lives. Many of them were also adopted by their foster family!

Despite the happy ending for the kids featured in ABC's report, the over prescription of psychotropic drugs has been reported by multiple news organizations including Time, NPR, NY Times and many more. There is no denying the help that these drugs can do for some people, and even some children but are we as a society relying too heavily on the quick fix? It's no secret that kids in foster care have a more traumatic childhood and have more obstacles to overcome than the average child but are psychotropic drugs the answer?

How do you feel about prescribing psychotropic drugs to children in foster care? What about children in general? We want to hear what you think.