TheProgressivePatriot
Gold Member
- Jun 11, 2015
- 27,374
- 7,878
A First Mother’s Day for Soon-to-Be Foster Moms in Alabama | Human Rights CampaignSo is the Manson family.
View attachment 126605
Post submitted by Eva Kendrick
After six years together, my wife, Kathryn, and I, are preparing to take on the role of our lifetimes: parents.
We now have a nursery instead of a guest room and have baby-proofed every corner of our house. We’ve collected children’s clothes, books, and toys, and have read parenting blog after parenting blog.
However, unlike many of our other friends becoming parents in the next few months, we’ve also completed a criminal background check, multiple home studies, a 10-week class on trauma-informed parenting, and mountains of paperwork.
That’s because we’re becoming foster parents to infants and toddlers in Jefferson County, Alabama, where more than 1,200 children are in a foster care system with only 250 licensed foster homes.
According to the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) and the State Policy Advocacy & Reform Center (SPARC):So is the Manson family.
- More than 5,500 children in Alabama’s foster and adoption system because of violence, neglect, and abuse.
- More than 1,000 children actively awaiting placement with foster or adoptive families.
- The average child’s wait for a permanent home is 3.6 years.
- Almost 400 children aged out of Alabama’s foster care system with no families in 2012.