Personal Narrative: Home

The Foster Care System with the kids who are in it is a massive social issue that America is facing today. There are more than 640,000 foster children in the United States every year. There are 23,000 foster children living in group homes at one time. There are 32,000 who live in institutions, and twenty-seven states do not meet federal abuse and neglect standards. (Attention) Personally, I am a foster sister, because my family currently fosters. Therefore, we see the issues and needs of fostering, daily. (Rapport and Credibility) This speech will discuss the importance of the nature of foster care, the catastrophic problems of foster care, and the proposed solution for the foster care system in America. (Preview)

It did not take long before I realized how lucky I was for the situation that I had grown up in, to see how I could use it to shape my future into one that went against every negative thought people had, or every negative comment people made towards my future. The past was the key to my future. I spent years in foster care, and years being treated like just another case by social workers, never feeling like they really cared or understood me. That is what needed to be changed, and that is what I was going to do, become a social worker, and revolutionize the way foster kids, abused, or neglected children were treated. No kid should feel like they are just another case to be handled, they are brilliant individuals who are waiting for someone to show them how to not only escape the past, but how to achieve their own dreams. I promised myself that I would never give up on that dream of helping those children in need. It was in the past that I found my courage to return to school, to prepare myself for a worth wild

I realized I wanted bigger and better things for not only myself but for my husband as well. Being able to work as a nurse aide, I believe you have to have a strong heart in order to see the things that we see day in and day out. Working in a nursing home and seeing the dying patient has strengthened my inner ability to perform the job needed to get done. At first I was frightened and scared of having to take care of a patient who has passed and after several years of working as an aide I have gained the strength to set aside my fears to take care of the deceased patient.

I remember it like it was yesterday. There i was a eight year old child, standing there in our front yard when the social worker dropped off our very first foster child. My parents placed the baby in my arms and as i stared down at it, i remember the very first thoughts running through my head; what the heck are we supposed to do with this!/ we are supposed to take care of this thing Well six months later, surprisingly, the baby still lived, but we had all just began a journey that would continue throughout the rest of my life. The one thing conclusion that i have come throughout these past 8 years is that foster system is indeed a problem that needs to be recognized and addressed by EVERYONE. And i hope to persuade you on this by exploring the problem, privileges, and promise for these kids.

The life for a child in foster care is much different than any other child’s. While growing up children look up to their father or mother. They aspire to be like them and follow in their footsteps. For the children placed in foster care all they see is that their parents could not take care of them. They will not have the memoires of growing up with their family, but instead memories of the different homes they have been transferred too. Foster parents love and care for all of the children that come into their homes, but it’s hard for the children to accept someone who moves in and out of their lives.

Being a foster parent is a choice that I made with a lot of support from my family and friends. I

Though I never entered foster care as a child and therefore, did not consider this topic directly related to my childhood; I see things differently now. The largest common denominator for the existence of foster care and the primary reason why children get placed is extreme poverty. Although I have gone hungry myself here and there in my life, and I also have encountered financial hardship throughout, it appears as really nothing compares to the histories of these families. The traumas they have endured living through despair and darkness of these circumstances is not easy to put into words. My research took me to different genders, different cultures, and different extremes of personal history. It was really heartbreaking to find out these facts via individual memoirs because it felt like they all sat in the middle of my room, up close and personal. What I do know now without a doubt is that I can clearly relate to the raw emotions which back up any human trauma out there. Any of these emotions are what connects humans all over the world; it gives people the key to relating to one another, especially in the space of suffering, as it will demonstrate through the call for and usage of foster care.

According to author Susan Egbert Cutler, “foster care provides children, youth, or adults with supervision and a place to live outside of their usual home setting” (Cutler). Typically, a person gets placed in foster care because they come from an unsafe home environment and are unable to care for themselves on their own (Cutler). The experiences of every child in foster care are different because there are so many variables that contribute to whether or not a particular foster home is a good fit for the child: the biological parents, the foster parents, the circumstances of the placement, and the foster child themselves. For example, Wanda Corley, who was a child placed in foster care during the 1950s, has her own unique perspective on foster

Foster care has been a forgotten, ignored topic, but it is the reality for tons of children across the world. This fact brings up the question, should every human be allowed to have children? On one hand, some argue that it is a human’s right and instinct to have children. On the contrary, others argue that many people are incapable, too uninformed, and unstable to raise children, but it certainly doesn’t stop them from having them. This way of living is the primary source of why more and more children are ending up in foster care, which fits this statistic that, “There are more than 400,000 children in foster care today, up from 270,000 in the early 1980s” (Jost 1). All these children are all coming from the same common factor, “child

When I was a child, I dreamt about being a doctor helping others. I knew at the early age of 7 that I wanted to make a difference in others’ lives. After the death of my mother in 1999, I slowly changed my mind about what I wanted to do with my life. I told myself that I would do whatever it took to help bring justice for families that go through what I went through with the death of my mother. As I was going through college I realized that criminal justice wasn’t for me after working in the field. I sat there one day wondering what I would do next and I realized I have a passion for helping others; and I love babies, so why not use that to my advantage. That is how I ended up here at Southern Careers Institute pursuing a career in the

My interested in foster care has increased because of the show “The Fosters” and reading the “A chance in the world” by Steve Pemberton. He talks about how he taken away from his mother at a young age, and how to he travel from foster homes and had to deal with cruel and a lot of abuse. But he was able to deal with it and find a home that took care of him. Reading this book and watching a show that has to do with foster care really open my eyes about foster care problems and what kids had to go through. Foster kids are barely getting adopted if you were to stay 12 to 18 months in foster home you’re chance of you leaving the foster home will decrease, and after the 36 to 42 months you’re most likely not being adopted and that’s bad. Because

“JUST DO IT!” Those are the words of advice my mother, Calvinetta Narcisse-Cousar gave to me after I asked about foster care. She is retired now but for fifteen years, she took in over twenty children and helped raise and nurse them back to health. There were tough times and there were easy times but she never let it slow her down. Many people might look at her and see a normal person, but to me she is more than that. She is a supermom and one of the best moms in the world. ____

When Shay made the last call for alcohol, Francisco and I had one final drink. We sat patiently at the bar while the lights came on and the staff made sure that people were exiting the building. I looked around at them in their wet clothes, and everyone was smiling. Everyone had a good time, and I felt that I was responsible for that because I'd brought Francisco. He was the best, and I was glad that I'd stopped at that car lot the other day and met him.

My head was spinning, the kind of spinning you'd get after you've had a little too much to drink. Someone yelled from across the room, the little voice awoke at the back of my mind and said ever so casually “Don't worry, it's probably another nobody.” I shrugged my shoulders and carried on walking, inching my way closer and closer to the door weaving my way through the jungle of people, I was determined to do one thing and one thing only. Get outside.

I realize now, as I'm leaving Argenon Hospital, that I can't pursue what my dad wants me to. It's not what my heart longs for. If I can't create art, I don't know what I'll do. It's the only thing, other than Noelle, that makes me happy. After all these years of making straight A's and being the son my parents had always dreamed for, I know that it isn't my calling. There are so many things racing through my head. What if I can't go to art school? I tell my mother and father that I'd rather walk home alone. I need to clear my mind and decide what I want to do.