Progression or Perpetuation?

Sarah Wagner — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:44:52 +0000

An organization called Casey Family Programs has produced several new ads about foster care that have shown up on television and the sides of buses here in the Austin area.

The website for the campaign is here: "Raisemeup.org"

The campaign highlights the possible futures facing children in the foster care system, futures which include high rates of homelessness, PTSD, and crime. The hook is that you "don't have to raise a child to raise them up"--that is, there are many ways to give these kids help besides fostering and adopting.

This is certainly true--there is so much that needs to be done to help these kids face the often insurmountable obstacles, and the efforts of the Casey Family Programs to get more people more involved can only help. But in a conversation with a woman who has lived through the foster care system, we debated whether these ads help progress our attitudes about foster kids, or perpetuate stereotypes of these kids as "problems".

It's not that they aren't troubled, who wouldn't be? Many kids, especially older ones, go through multiple placements. The woman I know remembers 11 homes; there may have been more. If you're not adopted, at age 18, you're done. No more homes, no more case workers providing even minimal continuity. This kid with little knowledge of functioning relationships, who's spent the past several years with no family, is told to get a job and make it work. So high rates of homelessness and crime are to be expected.

This very, very simplified account is some of the background that we don't see in the ads. And I'm not convinced all viewers need to see it. But those who have only a passing concern for this issue (I understand everyone has priorities) only see that one image: foster kid = societal problem. Is that enough to get people involved?

viz. - homelessness

Progression or Perpetuation?