Yes, there is a serious side to this underbelly of society. They produce children and in best case scenarios, those children grow up to be social leeches, too – learning to work the system and scamming whatever they can from people who work for a living. Then there's the tragic side – children who are born to parents who live for the next fix, who live in filth and unsafe surroundings, who are barely aware that there is a child in the home, much less of what that child needs to thrive. Those children too often fall through the cracks of a system that was intended to catch them.
My husband and I are privy to such a situation now, and it's heartbreaking. An already over-burdened child welfare system has let this child live in such conditions for far too long. People who are aware of the deplorable conditions have tried to get the child help to no avail. Now the situation has become so dire that the system has no choice but to step in.
These "parents," and I'm using that term loosely – they are biologically linked to this baby – have had so many chances. People have bent over backwards to try to help them, but that bothersome white trash tru-ism still rears its ugly head. If people don't want to be helped, no amount of help in the world will make one bit of difference. This woman has already had 2 children removed from her care. Somehow, this little third one can't seem to get out.
Oh, and the punch line? She's pregnant again. Hallelujah, and pass the Medicaid and food stamps.
hopefully the good comes out of this.
ReplyDeleteIt's really so sad. I know cats who have had better parenting. It's just another example that its not the ability to BECOME a parent, but the ability to BE a parent. Hope the children will be adopted by some folks who desperately want to be parents but can't have their own bio kids.
ReplyDelete