A lot of thought has been given recently, understandably, to the problems caused by the Bush administration policies and activities. There is a whole other world of problems that just exist out there, irrespective of these shifts in power and politics. The below story is an example. At least for me, it is a paralysing bit of reality:
BBC | US parents try to ‘unadopt’ son
An American couple are reportedly trying to “unadopt” their 16-year-old son, saying the state did not tell them of his disturbing history of abuse.
According to the Washington Post, Helen and James Briggs adopted the boy six years ago, after Mrs Briggs – a foster mother – fell in love with him.
But in 2003 the boy, who cannot be named, sexually abused a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl.
Mrs Briggs said it was only then that she discovered his troubled past.
The newspaper said confidential files revealed that the boy’s biological parents, who were alcohol and drug addicts, had physically abused him to the extent that his brain stem was damaged – hindering his ability to gauge the passage of time.
The files also suggested that he had been sexually abused.
The boy had been in and out of five foster homes since he was 16 months old, in psychiatric institutions seven times and diagnosed as possibly psychotically bipolar.
[...]
Analysis gets a bit difficult without a clearly identifiable good guy or bad guy.
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3 Responses
There’s no law that says foster parents should know the kid’s history? That’s like selling someone a creepy house without telling the buyers about it, which has happened.
The article says this:
> Under Virginia policy, caseworkers must provide the full facts about a child to
> adoptive parents.
So, if her claim is true (that they did not provide the entire history) then she would be on the right side.
The thing that bothers me though is that everyone is a loser here. This poor child was abused and had a horrible life from the age of 16 months!! And all the goodwill of this woman is unable to undo or change that.
So just because there’s nothing she can do to help him, she’s going to send him back? He may be disturbed but I think he knows he’s unwanted and that further worsens his condition. Has he been in therapy or given any sort of psychiatric help?