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Hi,My name is Christopher Curry and i have little boy by the name of Isaha, he is two years old and i have Durable Power OF Attorney for Managing Conservatorship over him.I'am looking for assistance in foster or adopting him,my financial situation is not very good at this time,we have very littel food are money for any thing.I was hoping that you could help me out and let me know the best thing to do.Would i be able to get Guardian Assistance to help provide for him.P.S I need some help.Thank You Christopher Curry (817)966-0197 cell or E-Mail me at ccurry72@hotmail.com

It's disturbing to me to still read that the abuse rate in foster homes is high, as it was something growing up that was a serious problem, at least from what I knew in the Chicago area (I had several friends that had survived the foster care system, and they confided in me about their particularly bad foster parent experiences). Still, I do have a very special story of hope that has stuck with me over the years.

When I was 14 years-old, in the summer between my 8th grade year and my first year of high school, I met a most amazing girl my exact age named Marie at the local pool. She and her sister, who was a special needs child and younger than both of us, went to the pool every single day because their parents worked hard to support both of them, and she was left to care for her sister each day during the summer when there was no school or care available to her. I got to know her better and discovered that she had been adopted by her parents at age 12 after many years in the foster care system. She spoke of her experiences being fostered in homes across the Chicago area by foster parents that often had upwards of 5 children of their own and were living in apartments in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city. She sometimes had 3 different foster families per year, and at the height, had 6 in one year. As a caucasian child often entering into families of different ethnic backgrounds that sometimes didn't even speak English, which was all she knew, she was often the target of violence and discrimination within the neighborhoods in which she lived. Luckily, when she was about 10 years old, she was reassigned to a different social worker because of schedule overloads, etc. This social worker changed her life, and started to investigate the circumstances of her placement, and the families clearly unfit to foster any children (and often too poor to take care of their own biological children). She questioned the system that was placing Marie and so many other children in homes that were unfit, and clearly not a step towards permanent placement. It was because of this social worker that Marie was placed with a loving family that opened their family to her and pushed to adopt her as quickly as they could. Marie went on to go to college and earn her MFA in theatre performance, an opportunity she would've never had had she not met this amazing social worker that connected her with a loving family and helped her grow into the amazing woman she always had the potential to be. She is one of the strongest women I know, and we are still in touch. I think her story is a testament to the fact that the system CAN work when people step forward and try to initiate change in areas where it's needed.

Hi Christopher,

I'd suggest you contact either your state Adoption Specialist or the Foster Care Specialist... either one - to get accurate information. States do not handle these things the same way, so your best source of information that applies to your situation is to contact one of those. You can find them under your state listing in the phone book, under Social Services or Deparment of Children and Families or something like that.

Hope this helps.