I Speak For This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate

I Speak
for
This
Child
True Stories of a Child Advocate

 

GAY
COURTER

 

The events in this book are true. These are real cases presented as accurately as possible. Some of the individuals in this book are composites and except for nationally publicized cases, all names and identifying characteristic of people and places have been changed to assure their anonymity.

Excerpt from “The Change” in OPENINGS, copyright © 1968 by Wendell Berry, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company

“Listen to the Mustn’ts from WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS by Shel Silverstein. Copyright © 1975 by Evil Eye Music, Inc. By permission of Edite Kroll Literary Agency.

From THE POETRY OF ROBERT FROST. Copyright © 1928. 1930, 1939, 1949, 1969 by Henry Holt and Co., Inc. reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and co., Inc.

Copyright 1995 © by Gay Courter

Electronic Edition Copyright 2010 © by Gay Courter

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Published in electronic form by Egret E-Book Editions, Crystal River, Florida

For information contact
www.gaycourter.com
[email protected]

Originally published in hardcover by Crown Publishers, Inc. in 1995.

Jacket photo for e-edition: Philip Courter

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Courter, Gay.

I speak for this child: true stories of a child advocate / Gay Courter.—electronic edition

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. Abused children—Services for—Florida—Case studies.

2. Children—Legal status, laws, etc.—Florida—Case studies.

3. Child Welfare—Florida—Case studies.

4. HV6626.53F6C68 1995

ISBN: 978-1-61750-022-0

362.7”68’09759—dc20                94-20936

For Philip,

who showed me not only how to care, but to love

For my sons, Blake and Joshua,

who taught me how to listen to and respect children

For my mother and father,

who made me feel like the most important person in the world

For my guardian children,

may all their dreams come true

Also by G
AY
C
OURTER

How to Survive Your Husband’s Midlife Crisis (with Pat Gaudette)

The Midwife’s Advice

Flowers in the Blood

Code Ezra

River of Dreams

The Midwife

The Beansprout Book

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface:
Children Are Waiting

Introduction:
License to Care

1
The Girl Who Loved Robert Frost:
Lydia’s Story

2
All the Possibilities:
The Stevenson Family

3
The Unfound Door:
Who Will Be Our Mother?

4
Shampooman and Lollipop:
The Stevenson Trial

5
Saying “No” to Never:
The Colby Family

6
Lolita II: Sandra’s Story

7
All Victories Great and Small:
The Rights of Children

8
It All Depends on What You Mean by Home

9
How to Contribute

Book Club Guide

Index

About the Author