I believe Dorothy Roberts’ view and the views in the film “Ask
Us Who We Are: Foster Care in Vermont” are in contrast, yet at the same
time, they both reveal truths of the foster care system. Dorothy Roberts’ view
is more centered on the injustice of adoption centered care in the foster care
system whereas the film revealed to the viewers the benefits of adoption
through foster care.
Dorothy
Roberts has a very critical view of many foster care policies. She picks apart
the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in particular. She states, “ASFA
threatens to permanently separate children from families, families that might
have been preserved with the right incentives, adequate state resources, or
creative custody arrangements” (Roberts, pg. 113). She accuses many federal and
state laws of forcing agencies to push for adoption in abuse and neglect cases
rather than striving for reunification. She also discusses how many lawmakers
are using rare case studies in order to support their legislative push for
adoption and she states, “advocates drummed up support for ASFA by pointing to
cases where family preservation failed miserably” (Roberts, pg. 107).
The film “Ask
Us Who We Are: Foster Care in Vermont” on the other hand, displays foster
care and adoption in another light. The film interviewed people who mostly were
benefitted from being permanently removed from their homes and adopted by another
family. The interviewee’s satisfaction with their new homes showed support for
the legislation discussed by Dorothy Roberts. The children were neglected and
abused by their biological parents but eventually found an adoptive family that
cared for and accepted them once they were no longer in the custody of their
parents.
I believe that both of
these views can be true. The view of Roberts that foster children are being
prevented from being reunited with capable parents is true. There are laws in
place that prevent some parents from being reunited with their children. At the
same time though, those laws are protecting many children, such as the children
we saw in the film, from being further abused. It is a tough decision to make.
Without some of the legislation that exists, many children would be reunited
with abusive parents that would continue to injure them, while that same law
would grant certain parents the time they need to regain full custody of their
children. The difficult call to make is to determine when the benefit of many
is worth the lives of a few.Julie Thurmes
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you wholeheartedly that both the film and the movie provide true views of the foster care system. There are both positive and negative aspects of the system. Although Roberts’ is more negative and the films’ is more positive, they both balance each other out in terms of demonstrating how lived can be affected within this system. Throughout reading the book and watching the film, I found myself relating to both views presented. For example, I agreed with the information you presented regarding Roberts’ opinion of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA). I also feel that there needs to be more money allocated towards helping the families rather than immediately resorting to taking the child out of the home. Resourced could be provided which could lead to more reunification of families. However, I also agreed with and related to the children who had better lives after being taken away from their parents. This is because of the wonderful foster families that cared for these children.
Furthermore, I agree with your statement that the decision regarding my stance on the foster care system is a difficult one to make. There are so many facets to the system that are established to keep children safe, but that also make it more difficult for parents to regain custody. All in all, I don’t think that anyone is ever going to be truly happy with the system because there are flaws. However, in retrospect nothing is perfect.
Isabel Porter