Ok - I've sent out emails to friends and family about this blog so I figured I should probably post something. As many of you know, I am in Tuscaloosa, AL for the summer working for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP).

ADAP is what is known as a P&A (protection and advocacy group) and each state has a P&A which is federally mandated to advocate/protect people w/ disabilities. Our organization is divided into two sections - community team and children's team. I am working with the children's team. Much of our advocacy is done on behalf of children in the custody of the AL Department of Human Resources (DHR - basically the foster care system) and comes out of a consent decree (R.C. v Walley) that has been in place for about 16+ years - so any child who is in DHR custody, or could possibly go into DHR custody, and has any type of disability (mental, physical, etc) is a member of the R.C. plaintiff class and is therefore, our client. I would venture to say that most (if not all) states have serious problems with their foster care systems, I just happen to be seeing the system in AL. I have researched other states and many of their systems have much more significant problems, while others have less.

What I can say is that I am thankful for the fact I was raised by parents who could take care of me (and are still together after 40+ years). I am a big fan of Jonathan Kozol's books (Savage Inequalities, etc) and from teaching I knew that there were children falling through the education system (I'll talk about that in a later post), but to see the children in the foster care system and how hopeless many of them are, just breaks my heart. I think back to what my "daily concerns" were as a child - which ribbon I would put in my hair, who was taking me to soccer or volleyball practice, how much longer I had until my piano recital, etc. Then I compare that to what these children deal with every day, like will DHR give their foster parent money to buy them more than one pair of shoes, when their next counseling appointment is and will DHR continue to pay for it, or when (and if) they will ever have a permanent home. It makes advocacy, and my possible career paths as an attorney, take on a new light.

Those are my thoughts for this afternoon. I am having to post from the UA library since I didn't want to pay for internet access at the house I am renting. This is working out okay, except for the fact that they have what they call "limited" air conditioning for the summer hours - which when the heat index is 107 like it is today - you may as well say "it's hot as hell in the library today"!

(and I'm also supposed to be studying for the MPRE, but the review book is putting me to sleep - or maybe that is heat related also!)