Whether it is the system or the Parents...abuse is wrong!
Question: Does the system realize that foster care can be psychologically abusive...and do they really care?
When I was a prosecutor, I prosecuted child abusers (both sexual and physical) and I could never understand how an abuser could do something like that. A child is dependent on the adult parents for life, sustenance, and the emotional reassurance that they are loved. To deny a child any of that was unacceptable and to actually cause damage was horrifying and inexplicable.
As a contract attorney for Juvenile Court who handles dependencies, I have seen things that I never thought I would see as a prosecutor. I have represented mothers, fathers, and children. Some of these mothers and fathers were, themselves, foster kids involved in the system and they never had the opportunity to get the love and affection and stability that a child needs and deserves. Then, when they become an adult and have a child (often without thinking about the long-term consequences of that decision), they are emotionally unable to give their child the appropriate love and affection and stability. They become involved with the foster care system and their child is adversely affected. I have seen substance exposed newborns, physically and sexually abused children, and children who are so psychologically damaged that they are unable to respond to any affection. Thus, another generation is scarred.
What is the solution? I don't know but the system is DEFINITELY broken.
