from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and monitoring my children. I had no privacy. The homemaker would watch and feed my children. If I had to step out, she would accompany me. It was outrageous. I didn’t feel like I was the parent because she did everything for me. I would’ve rather had child care without someone in my home intruding and controlling everything.
I’m writing as a parent that has been impacted by the coronavirus shutdown and lives in public housing with limited resources. I had a child welfare case, but it is closed and my kids are home with me now.
The coronavirus is impacting me and my family — I’m struggling financially, our housing is impacted, and I’m scared to go outside.
The children get home schooling and some activities are fun, some are boring. It’s very hard for my son to get teletherapy (therapy over FaceTime). He wants to go back to school and he is bored.
Still, I try to make sure my kids have good moments, like baking cupcakes in the house. We have had fun playing with Play-Doh and making new things out of it, such as caterpillars and butterflies.
Everything is not perfect but I do my best every day to do what I need to do.
Before joining a peer support group, I would walk into the foster care agency ready to raise hell. I was having real concerns about my case. I didn’t feel that I was getting the information I needed. I was struggling and had no one to talk to. I wore my anger on my face and didn’t think twice about lashing out.
Throughout my life, I have been used and let down and I learned not to … Read More
I was angry at the world when CPS took my daughters Melanie, 8 months, and Amaya, 1 week old. I’d always wanted to avoid my kids going into foster care because my brother and I were raised in care.
But it was a struggle being 21 with two kids and no support. My relationship with their father was abusive and I was broke and homeless, sleeping in the streets. I robbed stores to buy pampers, milk and clothes.
It … Read More
