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Stories

Anna Dowd Arancio
Anna has been a foster parent for five years now. The child has been in her home since he was 8 months old. He is now 4 years old and has been removed from her home. Anna has worked with the birth parent for 2 years now. Ann and her family had the privilege of having a foster child name Trust in their care whom they loves deeply and have not been allowed to see since his removal from her home. It was this situation that brought her to Foster Parent Advocacy Foundation Inc. Anna needs assistance – she does not know what to do. She is heartbroken, scared and has no contact with the child at this time. Can you help us provide assistance and support to her?

Luz Rios
Luz has been a foster parent for five years now. She has been a victim of false allegations against her – 6 times. At the time the allegations were called in, Luz had no foster children in her home. Her agency has not supported her and she does not know what to do. She feels alone and frustrated. Can you Help us to help her with support and assistance?

Anthony Irvin
Mr. Irvin is the cousin of the child he is fostering.The child is blood-related and has been in foster care since she was born (July 2009). The family has reached out to the foster care agency about becoming kinship foster parents, however the agency has not reached out to them. Can you help us provide a Partnership Coordinator to assist this family?

Foster parents face lots of obstacles and challenges in getting the help that they need from their agencies. Foster parents need to be educated about their rights and about policies in order to be effective as foster parents. Services that should be provided are not always given to foster families. A lack of services can cause disruptions in a foster child's life.

If you are a foster parent or a youth in foster care, and have a story to tell, please email it to us at
unitedfosterparents@yahoo.com

Please enclose a picture of you and the name of the agency you are currently with.

Be that voice tell your story.

Nicole Cabrera

Dorin C. Matthews
I have been an Adoptive foster parent for 11 years now and I have transferred to several different agencies. I thought things would be different, but it was worse each time I transferred. I was with one foster care agency for less than a year, and had the worst experience with them, as a foster parent. I recently tried to transfer to another agency and was told my profession as a social worker would be a conflict.

I help foster parents and chidren in foster care by providing advocates to assist them and fight for their rights. There is something really wrong with this pareticular agency and their staff (as well as many other agencies), and how they interact with foster parents and the public. Staff needs to learn proper customer service when dealing with people and curb their biases. This is why they can't find foster parents: because of their lack of professionalism and lack of services actually being provided to the public. Shame on agencies that pick foster parents who are not role models, and only care about receiving a check. Agencies don't want people to be aware of their rights when caring for these children, because that means more money in the agency's pocket. I believe that these children are still being abused in the hands of agencies. They are not providing necessary services to these children.

Foster care has become a business on the expense of the backs of the children. People in these agencies are usually in it for the wrong reasons. Everyone should be treated with respect and dignity when they walk through an agencies door, whether it is a birth parent, foster parent, or youth. The agencies are supposed to be providing a service to the community, and if they are unhappy about the services being delivered, they have a right to make a complaint. I will contiue to be a foster parent because at the end of the day, it is that child that needs help, or needs to be reunited back with their family. I will be going to You Gotta Believe, an agency that focuses on adopting older children.

I will contiue to help a child in need, and won't let the biases of agencies stop me from doing so. I will contiue to make a complaint on any agency that chooses not to provide services for a child in foster care. Agencies have a social responsibility to help their clients. Empowerment is the key to helping foster parents and children. I tell all foster parents, "read your foster parent manual". It has all of the policy and procedures that agencies are supposed to be following when caring for foster children. Unity is the key for foster parents. Foster parents need to come together and speak out aganist agencies. Stop the injustices toward people who are willing to help the children. Don't be afraid to speak out; you have the right, and the child in foster care deserves better.

Thank you for your time,

Dorin C. Matthews
Adoptive Foster Parent

Ms.Guadalupe Estrella

Ms Estrella has been a Adoptive foster parent for 19 years now.She has adopted 4 children and has contiue to keep her home open to help 12 other children in foster care. She is not a therapeutic foster parent but she takes in children with special needs. She has been involved in not being supported by her agency. The agency placed a 20 year old girl in her home and did not tell her that the girl was HIV postive. The girl had to inject herself with needles everyday and the foster parent thought that she was a diabetic. The girl's illiness was so severe that she also had hepatitis C. The health inspectors came out to her home and told her that the room had to be clean out because the space was contaminated.The health inspectors threated to take her children out the house if the room was not clean up and disinfected.

She told the agency and they ignored her request and did not answer her calls about the situation. After the girl left, she had to clean the room out because the inspectors were coming back and they threaten to take her children away if it was not clean. During cleanning the room she was stuck by a needle that was in the room. She advised the agency about the situation and went straight to the doctor.She is now affected with Hepatitis C. The agency has turn their back on her and is not willing to take the blame for placing someone in her home that they knew was very ill from the beginning. Ms Estrella and her family did not have the proper precaustions to take once she was placed in the home because they did not know she was sick.They agency told her that it was confidential to let her know about the girls illness after this had happen. Her whole family is effected by this tragedy that occurred..She is now trying to lobby and fight for some changes toward the treatment of foster parents. How do you stop this type of treatment? Get Involved

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She is a new foster parent who home was just open and twins were placed in her home for two weeks. The agency took the children out of her home and told her that the space was inadequate for the children and closed her home. She said that she has had the worst experience in her life. The way the agency treated her was not right.