Foster Care System Analysis

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” This quote by the famous Swiss psychiatrist, C.G. Jung, has been a mantra of mine for years. I am a child abuse and foster care survivor, and these are badges that I wear with honor. While my life was not easy, it shaped me into the strong woman I am today, and for that I am grateful.
Raised in an abusive home, I was forced to grow up sooner than most. My seven siblings and I learned to take care of ourselves and each other. Childhood became less about carefree fun, as we worked to navigate our own survival. My classmates were playing outside on the weekends, while I was cleaning the house and trying to fall asleep before my father came home in a drunken rage. As a child, we look …show more content…
As anyone, involved directly with the foster care system, can attest to, the system is far from perfect. Overwhelmed case workers and poor screening can lead to unsuitable situations for the children the system is intended to protect. I was torn, literally, from the arms of my siblings and forced to live without family. For the first time in my life, I was truly alone, and my protectors and mentors were gone. As most foster care children are, I was bounced from home to home. Some foster homes were nice, some were just as abusive as my own, but none were home. It is difficult to explain to someone who has never been in a similar situation, but it is a horrible feeling be without a home to call your own. I was treated like a second-class citizen. Only permitted to use items intended for the foster kids in the house, I envied the biological children of my foster parents. Birthdays flew by without notice, and life felt unfair and unfamiliar. I was hurt and angry, but I remembered all that I had been through as a young child. I called again on my inner strength to get me through the difficult situations I faced. I let go of the resentment and I worked to create a more peaceful and positive environment for

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