Mort - 14 September 2005 07:26 AM

Acci tsk tsk.

I always wonder WHY certain people go to all the trouble of becoming foster parents, only to end up abusing the children they are supposed to be responsible for. Half these kids come from deprived, depraved, or broken families in the first place, so why do these sick bas*ards feel the need to traumatise them further?

Grrrrrr!

 

Mort, not 100% sure of amounts but I know these people get some amount of money from the government…more foster kids equals more money…so basically it seems that it is simply proof that the old saying “money is the root of all evil” is pretty damn accurate.

and yes, sick bastards indeed.

My husband’s family did foster care for quite a few years.  They only stopped after they adopted him… 

They usually had between 8-12 kids at one time.  The amount of money they were getting did not even cover food and clothing for the children for a month.  The way some kids were taken from one home to the next, lots of things were left behind.  Tooth & hair brushes, shoes, socks, other clothing aricles…they sometimes showed up with a suitcase or backpack with maybe a comic book and a t-shirt.  Not to mention, a dozen showers a day, tons of laundry, school supplies…although the one little break was that they were provided free lunch at school.

One kid they took care of was there b/c of a custody dispute.  His parents had divorced, and one parent had custody.  Then his grandfather died and left billions of dollars to him.  So the other parent decided they wanted him.  A huge legal battle later, the kid eventually goes to live with some other relative.

I do know that there was a foster kid day at Disney or Busch Gardens or something, and once a year they all got to go.

UPDATE

It is now being reported that in 2001 the foster/adoptive mother (Sharen Gravelle) had alleged that the foster/adoptive father (Michael Gravelle) physically and mentally abused the foster/adopted children. The accusations were made in court papers Sharen Gravelle filed requesting a separation from her husband. The couple later reconciled and were allowed to adopt three more children.

Seems to me that the system should be shouldering some of the blame here. If regular inspections are not mandatory for foster/adopted homes they should be and if accusations of abuse are made, they should be thoroughly investigated.

Also, it was reported that the couple recieved $4,265 US per month in government adoption subsidies and disability payments and this figure was from before the couple adopted the three additional children.

Damn…my in-laws were fostering in the wrong state!