When I was 10 years old, my mentally ill mother walked out on me and my four siblings. As I got older, I discovered that I had a unique gift:identification. Because I had suffered abandonment and childhood unrest, I found that I was able to identify with the insecurities of emotionally wounded children.
My husband grew up in a stable, close-knit family. His family set the example of how things should be while … Read More
When parents are at their wit’s end, they sometimes think child welfare can do a better job controlling their teens than they can. Priti Kataria,director of the ACT Project (Adolescents Confronting Transition) for older youth at Lawyers For Children, cautions parents against voluntarily placing teens in foster care:
Sometimes parents decide to seek help from child welfare when they have seen their teen’s situation get worse and worse. The child is … Read More
I was 2 years old when I got adopted, and 7 when my biological mom stopped visiting me with no explanation. Even though those changeshappened when I was so young, I think they’ve affected me to this day.
For years I wanted to find my biological mother. I used to cry just thinking of her at night. I missed her so much. As I got older, I wanted to live with her and be … Read More
When children have been in foster care for more than 15 months, federal law requires in most cases that child welfare agencies file toterminate their parents’ rights and move the child as quickly as possible into a permanent adoptive home. The idea is that children do best when they grow up with stability, but courts are finding that, for too many foster youth, adoption isn’t always permanent. Family court lawyers and judges often … Read More
On Dec. 22, I saw my neighbor’s son being stopped and frisked by the police. In New York City, police stop and frisk hundreds of thousands of young men of color in poor communities. Of the 686,000 stop-and-frisks last year, 84 percent were of blacks and Latinos. I have five sons, and my sons have been stopped and frisked so many times.
That December day, I asked the police, “What’s going on? … Read More
