guardianship

Hard Emotions

I was chatting with an old friend last night, and he mentioned that foster care seems to be full of challenging emotions. Boy is that an understatement. About a month ago, the agency was telling us they wanted to have Mama surrender her rights to Sunny and have us adopt her. We were more thanContinue reading “Hard Emotions”

The System is Broken

I hear this phrase all the time. Hell, I use this phrase all the time. But what do I mean by it? My short answer to people is always about overloaded and underpaid case workers, but there is so much more to it than that. It’s corrupt judges, state laws that discriminate against families withContinue reading “The System is Broken”

Overwhelmed by the World’s Grief

The news right now is pretty grim. It always is but it seems exceptionally so right now. The worst parts for me are the stories that evidence discrimination, hatred, fear, and control: the racism-driven massacre at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY; anti-trans laws being proposed and passed across the country, especially those targeting kids;Continue reading “Overwhelmed by the World’s Grief”

Racism in Glaring Statistics

I’m in the midst of a three-day conference put together annually by Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York (AFFCNY). It’s so damn good. There’s so much good info in this conference, but this morning a set of statistics slapped me across the face. I’ve previously mentioned that Black kids are over represented inContinue reading “Racism in Glaring Statistics”

If I Ruled the World

We had court for Sprout this past week. It was her routine permanency hearing, which happens every 6 months. The issue of guardianship versus adoption came up in the midst of the court proceeding. The attorney for the child brought up that we have been considering guardianship as opposed to adoption, and the judge noddedContinue reading “If I Ruled the World”

Wrinkles in the plan. Or perhaps shreds.

I’ve spoken to a variety of attorneys in the last few days about the potential for making Sprout our legal ward rather than adopting her. Doing so would preserve the legal familial bond she has with her mother and siblings, and would avoid the need for her to get a new birth certificate that erasesContinue reading “Wrinkles in the plan. Or perhaps shreds.”

Sprout’s Little Bitty Voice Matters

We had a home visit by Sprout’s new case worker yesterday, and my brain has been churning with thoughts ever since. For the most part it was a perfectly ordinary home visit. She brought Sprout a new teddy bear and a fuzzy blanket that’s pink with green frogs on it. Sprout was super polite aboutContinue reading “Sprout’s Little Bitty Voice Matters”