Reference no: EM133646275

Case Scenario: The Life of a Foster Parent. The following case scenario helps students gain insight into the life of a foster parent. Stop at certain points along the way for discussion (discussion questions are indicated throughout).

You are Colleen Cooper and you and your husband, Mark, have recently been approved as foster parents. You are very anxious to receive your first call to take a child. You quit your job several months ago, as you and your husband had decided that being a foster mother at home would give you more time for your own children. One spring day you are planning a busy day. It is 9 am and the children are off to school. You must make cookies for Debbie's open house at Brownies today and take them when you pick her up from school. Then your son Luke has a Little League game that you promised to attend. This is the first game in which he will play and he is very excited.
You have also promised to pick up some paint for husband Mark, who is trying to finish the guest room before your parents arrive next week. The phone rings as you are planning. It is the foster care agency saying that they have a child for you. The worker, Bill Harris, tells you that he is about to go into a hearing on an eighteen-month-old girl named Tammy, but there is a good chance the court will decide to place her in foster care right from court. Her baby brother died due to the mother's neglect and the court will probably remove this child. Can you take her? It will probably be in an hour. You agree and reconsider your day.

Two hours later, Bill Harris arrives. He is carrying an obese eighteen-month-old girl who is very dirty and crying. Her face is caked with mucus from her runny nose. The worker hands her to you, telling you that she has lice. She has been badly neglected and does not walk, talk, or sit on her own. He gives you a voucher for clothes, says that he will call later and leaves. There you are with a strange, filthy child who will not stop crying.

You give the child a bath, trying to soothe her as best you can. You wash her hair well, but know that you will have to get special shampoo to get rid of the lice. The baby continues screaming and will not be comforted. After another hour you manage to give her a bottle and get her to sleep. You enlist the support of a neighbor to watch her while she sleeps and quickly run to the store to get a few clothes and the medicated shampoo to take care of the lice. You also get some milk, as she is still drinking from a bottle and that seems to be all she will take. You return home to find a frazzled neighbor, an awake and screaming baby, and a whimpering family dog who is apparently distressed at the child's crying. You try to calm everyone. A look at the clock tells you that it is now 2:00 and in a half an hour you should be picking your daughter up at school and taking her and the hastily made cookies to Brownies.

You manage to arrange a ride for your daughter, begging that they swing by for the cookies. You cannot get a hold of Luke, but you call your husband and ask if there is any way he can get out a bit early to get to the end of the game. He cannot, as his company has a big meeting, but he will pick Luke up after the game. You have managed to calm the baby and she is, for the moment, quiet. You wash her head again with the medicated shampoo to renewed wails. She finally settles down once again and you hoist her on your hip and start dinner. The family should be home soon.

Several months later, the social worker calls saying that the mother has been allowed to visit, as the agency is considering reunification. To make the visit less traumatic for baby Tammy, they would like it to take place at your home. You agree. The mother is an hour late for the scheduled visit. She is an extremely obese woman who announces that she is there to see her daughter from behind the smoke of the cigarette in her lips. No one in the family smokes and you debate if you should ask her not to, but decide to say nothing. The mother comes into your house and proceeds to go into every room, as if she is inspecting. She handles everything and pays little attention to Tammy. Tammy clings to you and does not seem to want to see her mother either. After an hour of the mother criticizing how Tammy is dressed and how you keep your house, she leaves.

You have had Tammy for almost two years. She now walks, talks, and is just slightly behind developmentally. The social worker, a new one, calls and says that they are definitely not going to return Tammy to her mother, but are considering placing her for adoption. Although you want very much to say that you want to adopt her, you and Mark had decided you would not have more children. Furthermore, his company is threatening layoffs and the future is not secure. The worker tells you that because Tammy has become so attached to you, they would like to bring the potential adoptive couple to your home. She asks that you begin to prepare Tammy for the fact that she will be going for adoption.

Discussion: How are you feeling now? How will you deal with your family and their attachment to Tammy? What will you say to Tammy?