tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595859314129335086.post1704979900489087603..comments2023-05-26T07:27:18.007-07:00Comments on What Now?: The United States foster care system has a higher turnover rate than most fast food industries.Lulu McCabehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10002084871872201948noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595859314129335086.post-76262171951065278542011-04-14T17:54:51.234-07:002011-04-14T17:54:51.234-07:00I am a foster care worker in Michigan, and I have ...I am a foster care worker in Michigan, and I have to say that the workers have little control over the system, you get paid salery for a reason, because you work average 60+ hours a week and only paid for 40. Also judges will make orders like the one I got this week "the parental visits shall be supervised by the case worker every Saturday from 12:00 to 5:00" what sucks about this, before court we talked about burn out and how wonderful mom is doing and needs to have unsupervised visits, so in court he said, unsupervised visits, then he changed his mind after court and put this jem or an order in his order. What really sucks, my agency, the most senior worker is only 2 years, turn over is higher then fast food, i worked fast food during high school. And you know what sucks, the supervisors only want reports done on time everytime or else they get yealled at. Its a job where everybody hates you, you are overworked, underpaid, emotionally drained, physicaly unhealthy because of the stress. oh and I MISSED WATCHING MY DAUGHTER CRAWL FOR HER FIRST TIME, why because I WAS AT WORK doing some report for a damn deadline for court which when i get at court i'm going to get yealled at some more. Corts hate us, parents hate us, foster parents hate us, media hates us and on top of all this we feel that we have to do the best possible job because a family is in our hands. If we screw up, which happens because we are so overworked and over stressed a family is at risk, who the hell wants that responsibilty, which is why I started looking for a new job a long time ago and hopefully soon, i'll be the hell out of dodge.<br /><br />--Angry foster care worker that is pissed at the broken system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595859314129335086.post-581074613875247142011-01-25T09:35:41.311-08:002011-01-25T09:35:41.311-08:00I believe the staff turnover rate and inexperience...I believe the staff turnover rate and inexperienced staff at our local agency contributed greatly to the difficulties we had, and our decision to not adopt again. <br /><br />We were lucky in that we were given access to our children's records before we agreed to adopt them, but it didn't give us information about their likes and dislikes - just some of the history of how they came into foster care, their diagnoses and (negative) behaviors while in foster care. We were allowed to talk to their foster parents a couple of times, their therapist and the caseworker who had been with them awhile. <br /><br />Honestly, nothing could have prepared us for our RAD kids. I would have loved better training, access to parents "in the trenches" and help finding resources. Instead we got a brief class with instructors who were reading from a manual, and couldn't answer questions. We were blamed and told, "just don't let him escalate" when our 5'9" 200+lb son was having what we later discovered was bipolar rages combined with RAD and PTSD.<br /><br />I hope that when our oldest son moves out I can talk my husband into adopting again, but I don't know if I want to go through Texas since we had such a difficult time with them treating us like we were stupid, child abusers who should be able to prevent our kids from getting in trouble.<br /><br />Mary in TXmarythemomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08205319256573120866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595859314129335086.post-67598282914099179912011-01-18T19:26:41.187-08:002011-01-18T19:26:41.187-08:00"Often, to this day, have the sense that the ..."Often, to this day, have the sense that the myriad caseworkers and inspectors and bureacrats involved expect us to fail in our endeavor to provide him with a permanent home."<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think that many of us have seen it fail so often that we expect the worst, instead of the best out of people. I fear this does sometimes become a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, I do want to say that your abilities in understanding trauma and how it affects T's behavior ARE unique in my experience. For many foster parents, no amount of explaining trauma and attachment helps them modify their reactions to a child's behavior. What seems to come somewhat naturally to you, is a rarity in my experience - and many placements fail because of it. <br /><br />But your words about the system ring true - you read my feelings about it recently! :)Rachie317https://www.blogger.com/profile/14646338773104987972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595859314129335086.post-1383048233825883492011-01-16T20:39:35.334-08:002011-01-16T20:39:35.334-08:00We once wanted to adopt several older kids from fo...We once wanted to adopt several older kids from foster care over time, but after our first rodeo we have decided once our daughter no longer needs our parenting as intensely, we will provide respite care to foster families we know in the area. We will still have to maintain our license, which is less than exciting, but we can help those who are willing to put up with the system and help keep kids in placement with good famlies, instead of moving due to a vacation, illness, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com