A panel on Foster Care
Learning about Foster Care at the Y
This afternoon Joe and I went to the YMCA on 14th Street in Manhattan to learn a little bit about the foster care system of the City. There are about 25,000 children in need of a home in the 5 boroughs of New York County (these children can be as old as 18 years of age). Even though we are not eligible to foster in NYC because we live in a different County, we wanted to learn a bit about the system. We heard a representative of the City's agency and also a lawyer who explained second-parent adoptions.
The Foster Care system's main goal is to reunite the children with their birth families, and Joe and I are not sure if we can handle taking that chance. But it's really heartbreaking to hear stories as the one told by Dominick, a teenager who spoke at the panel with his yet-to-be adoptive father. It seems that they are one piece of documentation away from making the adoption official, yet Dominick is anxious and scared, fearing that the system will fail him again. He has passed through two or three foster homes, was in an institution, and now is very thankful that he found someone willing to adopt him. He doesn't care that his adoptive father is gay and he fondly called him "dad". Dominick's speech ended with loud tears, and he had to leave the room. Dominick's father followed him and did what a parent would do, giving him love and support.
I was very touched by this scene, and while Joe and I have agreed that we want to adopt an infant or toddler, I know I would be happy with a son like Dominick, despite all his apparent emotional traumas.
This afternoon Joe and I went to the YMCA on 14th Street in Manhattan to learn a little bit about the foster care system of the City. There are about 25,000 children in need of a home in the 5 boroughs of New York County (these children can be as old as 18 years of age). Even though we are not eligible to foster in NYC because we live in a different County, we wanted to learn a bit about the system. We heard a representative of the City's agency and also a lawyer who explained second-parent adoptions.
The Foster Care system's main goal is to reunite the children with their birth families, and Joe and I are not sure if we can handle taking that chance. But it's really heartbreaking to hear stories as the one told by Dominick, a teenager who spoke at the panel with his yet-to-be adoptive father. It seems that they are one piece of documentation away from making the adoption official, yet Dominick is anxious and scared, fearing that the system will fail him again. He has passed through two or three foster homes, was in an institution, and now is very thankful that he found someone willing to adopt him. He doesn't care that his adoptive father is gay and he fondly called him "dad". Dominick's speech ended with loud tears, and he had to leave the room. Dominick's father followed him and did what a parent would do, giving him love and support.
I was very touched by this scene, and while Joe and I have agreed that we want to adopt an infant or toddler, I know I would be happy with a son like Dominick, despite all his apparent emotional traumas.
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