Who are these people who have taken me out of my home and what gives them the right?

March 5, 2007 11:23 AM

FosterClub is an online resource for kids in foster care, providing answers, inspiration, even downloadable forms to give to caseworkers, as well as a sister site for older kids.
posted by Methylviolet (7 comments total)

I don't know which is sadder: these links, or the fact that no-one has any comments.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:59 PM on March 5, 2007

I just finished training to be a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for foster kids. This is great info for me, actual stories from kids in the system now. Reading about the lack of trust engendered by being kicked from home to home is heartbreaking. Thanks for an unusually timely, informative and useful post.

However, 6 months ago I definitely would have ignored this post, figuring it really wasn't intended for me. Perhaps I would have been right, I don't know.
posted by johngumbo at 2:00 PM on March 5, 2007

WhiteSkull, the first rule of FosterClub is that you do not talk about FosterClub.

In all seriousness, though, I'm glad such resources exist: bravo.
posted by oats at 2:06 PM on March 5, 2007

Well, here are three Ask.Me posts that gave us a glimpse of the other side of the coin.
posted by ruelle at 2:09 PM on March 5, 2007

I didn't think the links were sad; quite the opposite. I thought it was all very -- heartwarming?

I loved that the tone was relentlessly sympathetic but proactive -- throughout, the site seeks to give kids not just emotional support, but tools to advocate for themselves with the system. Despite what looks like ultralight moderation, the kids' comments are on point, and fascinating. These aren't just tales of suffering; this is a resource somebody made so kids who have been failed by adults can help themselves and each other, which they do.

In real life, each foster kid is essentially an island. He is cut off from the usual well-wishers most of us take for granted, a blood-family, and thrown on the tender mercies of an overburdened social services system. Often he will have to change schools with each new placement, so it is hard to keep friends.

But libraries are free, and every library has the internet. I know that the internet is really for porn, but this seemed like the best of the web to me.
posted by Methylviolet at 2:18 PM on March 5, 2007

I got curious about foster care from reading about this awesome human being, a former foster kid.
posted by Methylviolet at 2:23 PM on March 5, 2007

Thanks for posting this.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 9:12 AM on March 6, 2007