Give Them A Home

Greetings everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful and relaxing summer. It has been a long time since I have been on here. As you all know, I have been hired as one of the new residential counselor's at St. Joseph Children's Home and might I say, I have had an excellent experience so far. Even though I have only been there for two weeks, I feel that I have gained an extensive amount of knowledge. I look forward to working there for years to come and gaining new experiences. Most of all, I hope that I will have a positive influence on the kids that will last them a lifetime.

As I was shadowing this past Thursday, I learned some startling information that I wish to bring to your attention. You may want to make sure you sit down for this one. In the state of Kentucky 87% of children from facilities like St. Joes are returned back to the state's custody after being adopted. Think about that for a second. The total head count of those children would be far more to count than humanly possible. At least in my mind it would be. It just blows my mind to think that that many children in one state will go without a family to live with this year that will love them, take care of them, and never intentionally try to hurt them.

There are many people that we can place the blame on for this issue (i.e., I am about to insert my opinion. If this offends you in any way, I apolologize. It is not meant to be offensive in any way. This topic is up for debate, so I would love to hear your rebuttal.). First, the biological family and/or the primary legal guardians that put their kids in this position, including parents everywhere, not just in Kentucky. I blame you for not providing a stable and healthy living environment for your children to live in. If you intentionally caused your children any kind of distress, whether long-term or short-term, then shame on you. If you love your child, you would have never once laid a hand on them.

Second, I blame the foster parents because you gave these kids false hope and gave up on them. If you could not handle the kid, it is your fault. You should have educated yourself more thoroughly about the child's history and condition before making the decision of whether or not to adopt him or her. I personally know a few people that have had their hopes shattered many times because they were given a home and then placed right back where they started.

Before I share the last one, I have heard someone place the blame for Kentucky's return rate on the foster care system of the state. I personally believe that they are not to blame at all. I am more prone to blame those residential workers who leave their foster care home because they simply cannot handle working with this population of children. These children are likely to believe that you all left because you did not love them enough to stay and take care of them. I believe, therefore, that it leads them to believe that everyone else outside the system, even foster parents, is the same way. If you are like me and are one of the select few that will not give up on them and will do everything possible to provide a stable, loving, and nurturing HOME for these kids, then good for you! I encourage you to never give up like the others have.

Notice in the last paragraph I wrote the word home in all capital letters. I did that because providing a home for children is the main goal of the foster care system. It is not enough just to give someone who has very little to nothing a house. They need a safe, loving, and nurturing environment that they feel comfortable living in every day. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be able to do this for these kids and do not plan on leaving until He calls me to pursue a position that will allow me to do even greater things to further His kingdom.