Looooong Day!

Today was a tough day.  My friend took Anthony and Taylor with her to visit her brother.  I dropped Riley off at the Club, took Zeke to Camp Adventure and then took Brittney to the church to clean toys.  Once everyone was taken care of, I drove to the Social Services office for PPRT meetings.  The meetings ended up lasting from this morning until 3pm.  We worked right through lunch but we got a lot accomplished.

I've mentioned it in the past, but just as a refresher, PPRT stands for Permanancy Planning Review Team.  I'm on the team the reviews each and every case of children who have been in foster care for longer than 6 months.  We meet once a month and go over each case individually.  Those of us on the team are included in each case but various other people come and go depending on the meeting.  Anyone who has a vested interest in that particular case is invited to that meeting.  So, for example, one meeting might have a lawyer for the mom, a lawyer for the dad, a lawyer for the child, a CASA worker for the child, therapists, mom, dad, foster parents, any relatives that want to participate and the child's social worker.  The next case might have just those of us on the PPRT and the social worker.

Sometimes the cases are so heartwrenching that I just wish I could wave my magic wand and go back in time to help these kids before it's too late.  By the time these kids reach 16-18 years old and have been bounced around without a loving environment, it's pretty much too late.  I have too much faith to say that it's ever officially too late, but the older the child, the less chance they have of making it in society.

I wish I could share some of the stories that I went through today but because of confidentiality issues, I can't.  What I can say is that all of the kids touch my heart but there was one especially that nearly ripped it in two. It brought up so many feelings in me because of my boys adoption and also my own adoption and struggle to find my fit into my own biological family.

Steve and I have committed to keeping our boys in touch with their biological relatives as much as we can because we both feel that it's healthier for them both now and in the long run.  And no matter what a piece of paper says about a "termination of parental rights", a grandparent is still a grandparent and a mom is still a mom at heart.  To me, it's not a legal issue so much as it is a heart issue.  If a person wants to be a grandparent then they should remain a grandparent.  Adoption doesn't change that.  And if an adoptive parent thinks it does, then that parent might be in for a shock someday when their child grows up. 

That being said, a child can never have too much love.  What a great experience for a child to grow up in a safe and loving environment and still know there are others out there who love them.  No matter what the law says or what a piece of paper says, you know who loves you, whether you have the same blood or not.

This was pretty rambly and I'm not even sure it accurately says what I was wanting it to say.   But after the emotionally exhausting day that I had, I'm not going back to delete it now :)