What is heartbreaking is that the ages of the therapeutic foster child is getting younger. I believe that the drug problem of this country is a factor of this. When moms are so high on “meth”, their parenting and children are not a concern. All they can think about is their next fix (how they are going to get it and pay for it). So the children become part of it by living where drugs are being cooked, men having sex with the children to pay for the drugs, watching mom prostitute herself to pay for the drugs (some cases their children have been in the hotel while the act take places their age does not matter).

Most of these children do not know what a real parent is like. In some cases, they have been the “parents” to younger siblings. Discipline and consequences for these children can be very difficult; they may not have had any in the their first twelve years of life. School for these children can be a nightmare. Most of these children are in special education or behavioral units. I found that the school has already written these children off, so getting them the education they deserve can be an uphill battle.

Property being destroyed is a given. Holes punched in walls, furniture splinted in pieces, bedding ripped to pieces, basketball goals bent, car seats demolished, car ruined, tint on the windows scraped off, plastic inside of panels of a van broke in tiny pieces, toilet busted and on and on are some of the things I faced in my home.

Some people think that therapeutic foster parent get paid too much for the care they provide. I find that very entertaining since the money a foster parent receives probably will only cover a fraction of the damage to their belongings.

Related articles at adoption.com:

Behavior Modification, Take 2: Consistency

Destructive Behavior