Ask yourself what’s more important, your child or your money? Easy, right? Your child’s worth is far more than money. Now ask yourself again, what’s more important, someone else’s child or money? That one may have been harder because how are you supposed to care about someone you’ve never met? I still hope you said the child because a child’s life, even if it’s not your own, has no price. If you said money, I hope that by the end of this letter, your mind is changed.

Imagine 600,000 people. Imagine 600,000 human beings all in one place. It’s hard, right? 600,000 is almost impossible for us to imagine because we have never seen 600,000 of anything in one place. Let me help break it down for something for us to understand. 600,000 is 23.08 times the amount of pentagon workers. 600,000 is 16,000 more than the whole population of Wyoming. 600,000 is the amount of children and teens that are in, or were once in foster care. That’s a lot of children that have been put through heartbreak, abuse, and trauma due to the corrupt foster care system.

There are many reasons that the foster care system is corrupt. 1 reason is because the social workers place the children in unsafe homes because they earn their salary off of placing children. That’s not the worst part. The part that is truly horrifying is that being poor is considered neglect in some social workers eyes. Children are sometimes ripped from their families loving arms because of poverty. The case is then filed as neglect. That is a very traumatic experience that may be irrecoverable. Not only are they taken from their families, they are also then put into a world of paper work and constantly changing homes. That’s not right for a growing mind and body.

Another reason that the foster system is corrupt is that many of the children end up aging out of the system with no family or job to survive. 45% of the children who age out become homeless. 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become criminals. I believe this happens because they are constantly told and think that they are no good. Also, because they have no idea how the real world works and how to get jobs. If the foster system become more willing to help these children, I believe the crime rates will drop significantly.

I know that there are bigger issues that you probably worry about, like protecting our borders and keeping us safe, but we need to start protecting us on the inside. I do have some ideas to help work this stuff out. I believe if we make the social workers do two meetings with the potential foster parents, one planned and one surprise, it will help make sure that they are fit parents and it is not a scam. Another idea that I think will help protect the children and also us is to offer programs for the foster children, when they reach 16, that will teach them things about banking, finding a job, getting an education, loans, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, and things that are necessary to surviving alone. This will maybe give them somewhere to go and to turn to instead of crime and prostitution.

I know that these are only a couple issues related to the foster system and that there are plenty more, like abuse, sex ring, and human trafficking. But I believe that if we change these few issues, we aren’t only helping the foster system, but we are helping America.

I hope that you looking into this issue but I understand if you don’t.

Yours Truly,

Abby D.

Citations

"A Critical Look at Foster Care: Foster Care Outcomes." A Critical Look at Foster Care: Foster Care Outcomes. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

By the Time She Was 18 Years Old, Lydia Had Lived in 35 Different Homes, Had 18 Social Workers, and Her Name Was Changed 4 Times. "The U.S. Foster Care System: Modern Day Slavery and Child Trafficking." Medical Kidnap. N.p., 11 June 2016. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

"Foster Care Sad Quotes." . QuotesGram. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

MrHeschle. "ReMoved." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

"Homeless Teen Facts | Homeless Friend." Homeless Friend. N.p., 03 Aug. 2016. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.