I am delighted to be interning at Amara Parenting, a foster-to-adoption agency, this summer! The foster system is a federal system, so Amara works to find, approve, train, and guide families who want to participate in raising children through the foster system. Amara supports families through the process to adoption (or sometimes reunification where the child returns to their birth parents). One of Amara’s primary goals is to create stable and secure families for the children. The Amara office building is brand new and beautiful, and the staff is nice and supportive. The office is largely divided into two areas. The clinical area is largely comprised of social workers who work to make matches between families and children and to help train, guide, check in on families, etc. I work in the other area that deals with outreach (finding families to become foster parents and recruiting volunteers) and development (finding donors). Amara also has an emergency sanctuary that has tons of volunteers where children can stay for 3-5 days during times of emergency after they have been removed by the CPS, but have not been placed in a home. This is a very brief overview of what I have gathered to be the most important parts of the organization.
This summer, I am largely working on two long term projects. First, I am designing an Ambassadors program, to gather more volunteers who can go out and spread the word about Amara without staff members being present. I am also working with Angela to help her develop a new area at Amara focused on post-adoption services. Angela is a fascinating individual because she was in fact adopted through the foster system, and I even watched a movie about her and her journey to find her birth family.
It really is amazing how much I have learned in a short week and a half. I feel like I have such a more thorough understanding of the foster system and its complexities, although I know there is so much more I am unable to grasp at this point. Today, Wednesday June 29th, was a particularly poignant day of learning. Krystal and I watched a documentary called "Tough Love." This film was especially interesting because it presented the other side of foster care, reunification, where the child returns to his or her birth parents. Often times this is the best scenario for the child, which can seem confusing and wrong given the differences in resources and conditions of the birth parents. After watching this, I had the chance to talk to Angela Tucker, Amara’s Post-Adoption Support Manager, about my feelings, thoughts, and questions. She then showed me a short film called ReMoved, which was extremely powerful and displayed many issues involved in foster care beyond just finding a foster family and pairing them with a child. Abuse and neglect can have immense effects on children that do not disappear with a new home and parents. Identity challenges can be a major hardship for these children as well. Rewiring a child and being a persistent foster parent is incredibly important in order to provide the child with stability and support. I have really had my eyes opened through working at Amara and have become really appreciative of the family that I have at home.
By Danielle Ezratty
This summer, I am largely working on two long term projects. First, I am designing an Ambassadors program, to gather more volunteers who can go out and spread the word about Amara without staff members being present. I am also working with Angela to help her develop a new area at Amara focused on post-adoption services. Angela is a fascinating individual because she was in fact adopted through the foster system, and I even watched a movie about her and her journey to find her birth family.
It really is amazing how much I have learned in a short week and a half. I feel like I have such a more thorough understanding of the foster system and its complexities, although I know there is so much more I am unable to grasp at this point. Today, Wednesday June 29th, was a particularly poignant day of learning. Krystal and I watched a documentary called "Tough Love." This film was especially interesting because it presented the other side of foster care, reunification, where the child returns to his or her birth parents. Often times this is the best scenario for the child, which can seem confusing and wrong given the differences in resources and conditions of the birth parents. After watching this, I had the chance to talk to Angela Tucker, Amara’s Post-Adoption Support Manager, about my feelings, thoughts, and questions. She then showed me a short film called ReMoved, which was extremely powerful and displayed many issues involved in foster care beyond just finding a foster family and pairing them with a child. Abuse and neglect can have immense effects on children that do not disappear with a new home and parents. Identity challenges can be a major hardship for these children as well. Rewiring a child and being a persistent foster parent is incredibly important in order to provide the child with stability and support. I have really had my eyes opened through working at Amara and have become really appreciative of the family that I have at home.
By Danielle Ezratty