To the End of June : The Intimate Life of American Foster Care (9780547999531) (48 page)

I'm deeply grateful to the friends, colleagues, and child welfare experts who read various incarnations of the manuscript and provided vital feedback. Mike Arsham and Rick Barth each read a full draft in near-final form; thank you for your careful and conscientious critiques. Meehan Crist read a full early draft and helped me change direction. Wesley Brown, Richard Perry, Charlotte Carter, Carol Paik, Jennie Yabroff, and Kelly McMasters all read multiple chapters and sections and, with love and furious red pens, pushed this book further than I could have on my own. Thank you all so much.

Far and above, though, the best editor a writer could wish for is Andrea Schulz. Andrea, you have the unparalleled ability to recognize a book amid my wild clutter of ideas and false starts and abundant digressions. From the beginning, you've seen this book and helped me find its beating heart. Thank you also to Nicole Angeloro, Lisa Glover, Barbara Wood, and the entire brilliant team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you, Amy Williams, for leading me long ago to Andrea and for being agent par excellence.

I'm enormously grateful to the Corporation of Yaddo for twice providing me the incalculable gift of time and space to write. Thank you also to the Point Foundation for your early support and to the Lambda Literary Foundation for supporting me and other queer writers.

For five long years, my family of friends has been with me as I built and unbuilt and rebuilt this book. Thank you for bearing with me. Especially Teresa Dinaburg Dias, Lisa Hanauer, Gemma Baumer, Batyah Shtrum, Sharon Krum, Mark Hollander, Ellis Avery, Sharon Marcus, Alison Smith, Cindy Tolan, Rachel Sedor, Kit Rachlin, Remy Steiner, Trista Sordillo, Heart Montalbano, and Dorla McIntosh. And Robin Goldman, Aunt Mary, Sophie, and Sami. Thank you also to Claire Hertz, who saved me more than once.

And then to my immediate family: to my daughter, Christina, who survived foster care and taught me to be a parent, thank you for staying so true. And Lo, my beloved Lo: nobody knows better than you the sacrifice of shacking up with a book in progress. Thank you for your patience, your encouragement, and your unshakable faith in me and my work, and for sailing us through it all. I love you.

AACWA.
See
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA)

abandonment,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
.
See also
biological parents; multiple placements

Abramowitz, Alan,
[>]

abuse.
See
child abuse; sexual abuse

accountability

Chaffee legislation and,
[>]

foster care fee structure and,
[>]
–
[>]

RTCs and,
[>]

waiver system and,
[>]

ACF.
See
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

ACLU.
See
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Children's Rights Project

ACS.
See
Administration for Children's Services

ADHD.
See
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Administration for Children's Services (ACS)

agency review process at,
[>]

creation of,
[>]

cultural competence and,
[>]
–
[>]

family court hearings and,
[>]
–
[>]

Green family and,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

legal actions against,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

merging of juvenile justice with foster care and,
[>]
–
[>]

permanency principles,
[>]

preventive services and,
[>]
,
[>]

relations between biological and foster parents and,
[>]

removal decisions at,
[>]
–
[>]

Special Services,
[>]

teens after discharge and,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

tracking of foster kids and,
[>]

waiver system and,
[>]
–
[>]

adoption.
See also
Keane, Mary; permanency decision; You Gotta Believe! (YGB) program

application process for,
[>]

of foster babies from addicted mothers,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

foster kids who aren't adopted and,
[>]
(
see also
aging out)

“foster-to-adopt” parents,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

Juno
scenario and,
[>]
,
[>]

time between parental termination and,
[>]
,
[>]

willing birth parents and,
[>]

Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA, 1997),
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA),
[>]

AFDC.
See
Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program

African Americans.
See also
race discrimination

abuse and,
[>]

as foster moms,
[>]
–
[>]

historical social policy and,
[>]
,
[>]

overrepresentation in foster care,
[>]
–
[>]

agencies.
See also
Edwin Gould; Miracle Makers

contracts with ACS,
[>]
–
[>]

drug treatment and,
[>]
–
[>]

flat-sum waivers and,
[>]
–
[>]

foster parents as interchangeable and,
[>]
–
[>]

funding of,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

recruitment of foster parents by,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

relationships between birth and foster parents and,
[>]
–
[>]

review process for,
[>]

tracking of foster kids and,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

training of foster parents by,
[>]

aging out.
See also
independent living programs (ILPs)

Dominique and,
[>]

Keane's home and,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

payments for,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

self-perceptions of teens and,
[>]
–
[>]

Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program,
[>]
–
[>]

Ainsworth, Mary,
[>]

alcohol abuse,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

Alicia (foster child),
[>]
,
[>]

Allen (Green foster baby),
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

biological father of,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Children's Rights Project,
[>]
–
[>]

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
[>]

anger of foster kids.
See also
multiple placements; trust

with system,
[>]
–
[>]

teen attitudes and,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

Annie E. Casey Foundation,
[>]
.
See also
Casey Family Programs

Anthony (Green foster son),
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

adoption of,
[>]
,
[>]

Anthony (Mary's foster son),
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

Arsham, Mike,
[>]
,
[>]

ASFA.
See
Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA, 1997)

attachment,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
.
See also
“just staying” with foster kids; love

agency disregard for,
[>]
–
[>]

caseworkers and,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

as disordered,
[>]
–
[>]

failed placements and,
[>]

foster parent recruitment and,
[>]
–
[>]

“healing agents” and,
[>]

identity and,
[>]

Kecia's views on,
[>]
–
[>]

lack of mothering and,
[>]
–
[>]

permanency decisions and,
[>]
–
[>]

temporary nature of foster care and,
[>]
–
[>]

therapists and,
[>]
–
[>]

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
[>]

author's personal experiences

as child,
[>]
–
[>]

as foster parent,
[>]
–
[>]
(
see also
Quiñonez, Christina)

her biological mother and,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

autistic children.
See
Russell (Green foster son)

 

Barth, Richard,
[>]
,
[>]

Bartholet, Elizabeth,
[>]

battered child syndrome,
[>]

Bayview Correctional Facility,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]

BCW.
See
Bureau of Child Welfare (BCW)

bed-wetting,
[>]

bereavement, in foster children,
[>]
–
[>]

biological parents.
See also
parental termination;
entries for specific parents and foster kids

child's experience of loss of,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

family team conferencing and,
[>]
–
[>]

foster parent contact with,
[>]
–
[>]

as “healing agents,”
[>]

kids' reconnections with,
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

mentoring of,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

parent advocates and,
[>]
,
[>]

Bowlby, John,
[>]

Brooklyn Family Court,
[>]
–
[>]

Brown, Nixmary,
[>]
–
[>]

Bruce (foster parent).
See
Green, Bruce; Wright, Bruce

Bureau of Child Welfare (BCW),
[>]
.
See also
ACS (Administration for Children's Services)

Butterworth, Bob,
[>]

 

Caitlin (mother of Oliver),
[>]
,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

“caring agencies,”
[>]
–
[>]

Carrington (foster baby),
[>]

caseworkers.
See also
investigators; Smalls, Tolightha

Dominique and,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

foster moms' experiences with,
[>]
,
[>]

placements by,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

teens approaching discharge and,
[>]

training of,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

trust of foster kids and,
[>]
,
[>]
–
[>]

Casey Family Programs,
[>]
–
[>]
,
[>]

“Chaffee laws.”
See
John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (“Chaffee laws”)