Monday, February 4, 2013
Grading the System
These days I feel like I am getting sucked into the black hole that is the System. I am disappointed with it at every turn. It is my own daughter's case manager not returning phone calls and sending me incorrect paperwork in the mail.
It is being subpoenaed by my patient's defense attorney to offer testimony in support of the System not taking her kids, spending the day in a waiting room at court just to be called back next week. It is my patient therefore having to wait another week to find out if she is going to have to say goodbye to her children.
It is another one of my patient's waiting months on a case transfer to another state so that she could be reunited with her infant son.
It is a case manager not getting off her butt to schedule a required but unneeded psychological evaluation for my 10 year old patient's biological father so that he can go to live with him instead of in foster care.
It is finding out that my daughter isn't ethnic enough appearing (as we have no paternal identity so who knows) and 6 months too young to qualify for the same adoption subsidy for which 98% of children adopted from foster children in my state are eligible. It is knowing that I can't fight it, at least not now, because as racist and unjust as I know it is, I am afraid of anything causing further delay to making CD a legally protected member of our family. It is knowing that I have no legal rights with regards to CD. Any day of the week, any minute of the day some psycho can call the System, allege that we hit CD or something and within hours CD would be placed in another foster home. All they need is an allegation and poof. . .she could be gone.
This System is set up to protect and help the most vulnerable children in our country. It is a System that is supposed to support reunification of families or when not possible, make adoptions happen. I give the System a D-.
As I have said before, I couldn't do it if not for the children, and honestly, since picking up some work at a clinic recently, for the parents working so hard to be the parents that their children deserve.
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If it makes you feel any better (and I'm sure the only way it would do that would be to provide you a chuckle at the absurdity that is the pace of our government), I have been waiting a year for my disability hearing (have been disabled since 08 100%, but didn't want the label of "disabled"; now I'm so broke that they can call me whatever they want, I just need to find a way to eat!) and I'm told I have at least another 1.5 years to wait still. #1) our government was already always slow at this. #2) a bunch of *bleeps* that are lazy and trying to get a free (very small) paycheck are clogging up the system for the ones truly in need.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't shake your head and try to find the humor in it, it's easy to start to lose it. Just try not to focus on the fact that you're forced to depend on people that really aren't doing their jobs. Try to keep in mind that when CD is a bit older, you two can look back on this and chastise the "system" together.
And be sure to tell her that good things come to those who wait! :) Even if the wait is unwarranted.
I hope your wait is over soon.
The system is in rough shape, and it isn't really serving anyone.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating.