The reality of the decision took minutes to sink in. And then she went into a rage. Her baby, sick with bronchitis in the ER, would not return home with her tonight. Another child lost to the system. We all sat, unmoving and uncomfortable. Though the consensus was warranted & premeditated, my supervisor got choked up. She spoke to the mother with tears glistening in her kind eyes: "I'm sorry."
Simultaneously, we heard a family sing happy birthday to their little boy in the hallway. A family visit.
The other intern and I met each other's sorrowful gazes - "what have we gotten ourselves into?"
_____
I staggered home after working only a half-day with a headache, drained. Not uncommon at DCFS.
_____ Next year will be very, very challenging. Lord, have mercy...
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
On Hiatus Carpal tunnel.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Transracial Adoption
Just watched a video on transracial adoption in class, and what struck me most was the amount of issues adopting parents fail to consider beforehand.
And if they do not engage in it beforehand, it is too late.
...
Transracial or not, the #1 thing adoptees want to know is why their parents chose to adopt them.
How will you answer when your child is 5, 10, or 20?
An adoptee spoke powerfully of the unspoken assumption that adopted children are Plan B, b/c those couples could not have children themselves.
...
A few more issues:
- Identity in Christ
- How will you raise your adoptees to see themselves as
children of God before their racial identity?
- Info on Birth Parents
- All kids want to know where they came from. How much will you dig up pre-adoption? How much will you share with your adoptee/s?
- Extended Family
- How will your adoptees be received by extended family? Will you be ok with racist remarks or limited contact with grandparents?
- Their World
- How will you expose them to their cultural heritage? Will you?
- Your home may be multiculturally-competent, but most places in society are not. Their classmates and world at large will impose the need to "talk and act black", for example. They will be made fun of... are we making them go through unnecessary hardship?
...
Before class today, I was pretty set on Christian parents' ability to guide their childrens' thinking and perceptions of the world.
Not that sure anymore - our jurisdiction is more limited than I thought.
Really sad that even a place like California, even among Christians, are not ready for one of the most beautiful demonstrations of the Gospel.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Marvelous
Haven't had a good class since my first quarter at UCLA.
Reminded me of the discussion in my social welfare classes in Berkeley - I would come home comatose thinking so hard about things.
So sobered. ...
We spent 2 hrs dissecting the root of all social problems - is it poverty? gang activity? education? but how about institutionalized racism? No more band-aids on the cancer, but digging for real answers to complex issues. Theology or Psychology 101, wrongly understood by a classroom full of persons brighter than I, but without hearts illumined to Truth. Incredible heartache for my colleagues and faculty staff.
...
I'm sure an adult-sized gingerbread man bursting into our room to sing a love gram to a student helped make the day a little more marvelous.
He even ripped off his head to assuage girls gasping, "Scaryy!!!!!"
His response: "I'm a nice guy!"
Rest of the class: "Arrest him! Arrest him!"
(Our class is taught by the LAPD Chief Assistant and many police officers.)
...
Then, Father Boyle came. He runs the largest gang intervention program in the nation. And he started it right here in East LA. Homeboy Industries. Powerful public speaker who spoke straight from the heart, humble and relatable. He's voluntarily lived in the South/east LA for the past 25 yrs, and the man knows what's up. Much closer to rightly diagnosing the human problem, but still not there. He even used those words (we must have a correct diagnosis for the correct treatment). Inspired me to continue with social work, though I know it is not the end all.
True
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