"I have worked with over a thousand foster youth in the past 20 years. Thanks to Facebook and other social media sites I am able to stay in contact with them after they have left foster care and moved onto other settings. I recently connected with the first child that I placed in foster care. She is 33 now and has two children of her own and she is doing very well.

It is always difficult when our youth are returned to situations that appear to be unsafe. Many times our foster parents don’t believe that a youth’s family has made the necessary changes it takes to be a good caretaker to their child. At those times we hope for the best and try and stay connected to the child after their return home. We try and teach the children survival skills including how to keep their selves safe. We teach them a strong sense of cultural identity which can be a great predictor of resiliency to trauma. We teach them to use their tobacco in a good way. We praise them and tell them of the great things that we hope for them and their life.

The following letter was written by one of these children that went home to her family where changes had not happened but there were fiscal restraints for the continuation of foster care and so she was returned to the Reservation home with her family. Let’s call her Harmony."

Get the Story:
Donna Ennis: A Letter From a Former Foster Child (Indian Country Today 2/9)

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