Today’s children who are becoming teenagers are using inhalants more often than marijuana or prescription drugs. A new government report shows that inhaling common household products is the preferred way to get high for those becoming teenagers. According to health officials, household products like shoe polish, glue, aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, nail polish, paint solvents, degreasers, gasoline, and lighter fluid are all possibilities for getting high. The results of the study were presented on Thursday at the National Press club in Washington, D.C. The National... more

Sexually transmitted diseases are in the news again shocking people with their skyrocketing numbers. A new government study suggests that over three million teenaged girls have at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD.) They say that boils down to one out of every four teenage girls having an STD. There is worse news yet if you look inside of those averages. Nearly half of all African American teenage girls have an STD compared to about 20 percent of Caucasian teenage girls. Then when we look at statistics for the sexual... more

If you are considering adopting a teenager from the foster care system then you are probably aware that many have been in trouble with the law. Time in the state juvenile facility may be in their history or in their future. In 14 of the states located here in the U.S.A, adult state prison may also be in your teenager’s future. While it isn’t always possible to influence a teenager to change directions, what chance will the adoptive parent have if the teenager is in prison?

One of our teenagers came to us well trained in the art of shoplifting by her first mother. While... more

You are sitting at the kitchen table paying bills when the phone rings. It is one of those automated calls saying, “This is a collect call from the county jail, will you accept the charges from S.” You hear a recorded name from the actual person who is trying to call you. You realize that it is the voice of your daughter’s birth father.

You try to think fast, “Why is he calling me from jail?” “Should I accept the charges?” I’ve heard that collect calls generating from the jail can be expensive. There is only one reason a person chooses to make their one phone call from... more

Well it has been almost three years since our foster daughter was first placed in our home. Her parent’s rights were terminated over a year ago. Last Thursday we finally got to sign the subsidy agreements and officially put her new name on paper so we can adopt her. That is the good news. The bad news is that now the paperwork has to go to the state MCI for approval and that could take six months or more according to our adoption worker.

Our daughter has been displaying many negative behaviors over the past year. We switched therapist, schools, and began medication... more

She suffered previous child abuse and neglect before entering the foster care system at the age of seven. Part of the child abuse and neglect suffered by our adopted daughter included a filthy home, no clean laundry, no heat, no water, truancy, and a lack of dental hygiene. However, now our adopted daughter has been in our home for nearly three years and gotten used to these things.

A person not experienced with traumatized children would think that a child would want to keep clean given the chance. Honestly, that... more

“The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), enacted in 1997, provides federal assurance that

a child’s safety and permanence remains the principal focus while involved in the child welfare system. The most sweeping reform surrounds a mandate directing the state to initiate steps terminating parental rights (TPR) for a child that has been removed from his/her home for 15 of the last 22 months. However, ASFA allows the court the discretion to waive this requirement when it... more

What happens to an older child, emotionally, when adoption takes too long? Say, for example, the child is placed in your home for the purpose of adoption, and you tell the child, “We are going to adopt you.” The adoption worker says to the child, “I am working on your adoption, it will take a while, but I will get it done.” The child’s therapist reiterates these phrases during counseling. But, then a year or maybe two goes by, and the adoption still isn’t finalized.

Sure, the child wants to believe that you will eventually adopt,... more

Over the years when a new child arrives at our house we usually give them a list of what they may call my husband and me. The choices include; mom and dad, Uncle Glen and Aunt Julie, Glen and Julia, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, or grandpa and grandma and then we usually just let children call us whatever they feel comfortable with.

The four year old has called my husband, “Daddy,” since she came to live with us when she was twenty-one months old. Back then she... more