Ask foster children if the system works
As a foster care alumna I think it is important to think critically about the lives of children in foster care. That is why I must respond to the article "Md. Policy on children 'not working' Conway says," Sept. 30). First, I found it glaring that not a single foster youth or foster care alumnus was interviewed for this story. Don't these individuals know best whether group homes are working? When I grew up in foster care, I was given a choice as to whether I would be placed in a group home or foster home. I always choose foster homes. As a child, group homes terrified me, and I thought I would lose my freedom. I wanted a family, not a business, to raise me.
I kind of agree. As a foster care alumnus, myself, I had been in group homes and foster homes. To be honest, none of them were very good. A worker dropped me at one foster home and I never saw another worker for almost a year. I know that things have changed since back then, but I wonder how much.
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