It’s not like we have enough foster homes or families waiting to adopt removed children that are living miserable lives of trauma and abandonment in group homes and other State Ward facilities. Too many emergency removals end up boarding children overnight in hospitals and even social services offices because nothing else is available. Very few states have ever maintained adequate housing for foster youth and this CASA guardian ad Litem has witnessed multiple 20 and 30 foster placements for children in his case load.
It is crushing to see the the Supreme Court and the Catholic Church fighting tooth and nail to forbid gay couples from adopting State Ward children. Life is painful enough for abused children housed in overwhelmed group homes and other state systems when there are not foster or adoptive families available. The Supreme Court and Catholic Church have found a way to make life even more miserable for the thousands of children and youth stuck in Child Protection systems.
Centuries old Church dogma is making life miserable for abandoned children and the waiting couples well suited for the task of providing them a caring forever home.
My kids, tortured children removed from toxic homes, having suffered extensive abuse for many years. The oldest child has usually been a victim for 4 years before courts get involved and make the painful decision to end parental rights. My kids feel alone and lack the skills to cope in social settings or at school.
There is nothing easy about going through the child protection process, being removed from the only home you have ever known and placed in a school and a home where you are not like the other children.
The similarities with growing up gay are many.
Growing up gay is a trauma for most children and youth to start with. Especially for those old enough to be married and able to adopt who grew up when it was absolutely uncomfortable to come out and declare a gay lifestyle.
In my experience in child protection as a volunteer CASA guardian ad Litem, gay couples are exceedingly well suited for raising State Ward children. They have both the empathy and understanding of what it’s like to be different and alone.
Shame on the Catholic Church for refusing to place children with gay families. It is already way too hard to find quality foster and adoptive homes for our abused children – please stop making it even harder.
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