Blog #5 Engaging with The Voice and Reflecting with Kay! We’re living in a Podcast World…

I had the pleasure of doing my blog #5 Engaging with the voices of critical social work podcast on (podcast reflection) featuring Dr. Hysolp. An overview of the podcast was predominantly about child protection, child welfare, and of the foster care system. Dr. Hysolp views were very strong on urban communities being disconnected from traditional support, framework, struggling economically with issues to do with housing employment and economical changes in adequate social welfare, Hysolp also spoke about how he feels it would translate into the lives of their children and child protection would go hand-in-hand in that matter. Although I do see where some of Hysolp points are adequate I do believe that from a social work standpoint. The urban community are more impacted in this aspect however, I do feel as if there are other communities that are also impacted in this aspect as well for example, the Latinos community and Caribbean communities.  Personally, for me, I grew up in the Caribbean community, where there are hardly any form of assistance in this matter. The beliefs of how parent should parent their child can actually go as far in an abusive standpoint without any need to protect the child because the community would state “It’s parenting”… when long-term it can cause a lot of mental health issues or physical issues. Growing up in The Caribbean with these abusive standards that I now know them as, has definitely scar me as a Mother and a woman. My mother had absolutely no boundaries and felt inclined to all of my business or there would be some sort of punishment because I was living in her house, so she thought she owned me and any bit of financial asset I would obtain or I was face the consequences. Which now I see was child abused but if I had called the authorities to report it, nothing would have been done but even bigger consequences for calling the authorities from my mother.

Hysolp then stated the worst of the worst probability when a child is removed from an abusive household into foster care that he has seen for himself. Such as kids being killed, or will die from the hands of their own families, being in situations where he has witnessed children being mistreated and abused, or even died in foster care as well. Hysolp also stated that it is hard to have a trusting relationship with families because people think that they would lose their kids to the authorities based off of being transparent, or probably being too transparent, child protective services usually targets the poor and in his experience that’s where he has seen the most of his clients from. Hysolp also stated that child protective services is not just about the service. It’s about the staff around the community that can help in various ways for the child to get the proper assistance such as security housing, securing a job, income stability or securing stability for the child to be rehoused with their original family.

I completely understand Hyslop’s point of view due me having relatives that has personally experience, this mistreatment and resource for help due to it. I was a highschooler at the time when there was a rumor going around in my family, that one of my cousins was sexually abused by her father. Because the father was one of my great grandaunt‘s, only son that she prized and treasured, no one believed my cousin, but she was however removed from his care and put into the foster care system. Which at this time puzzled me because she had so much family around her and no one wanted to take her in because of this rumor. Shortly after I graduated high school I connected with her briefly and we had a very honest conversation and everything she said I believed her. She spoke about how she talked to her aunt which is her father‘s sister and she briefly stayed with her aunt but eventually her aunt asked her to leave and told her to never talk about the incident that she alleged happened. So my cousin at the time was considered homeless with nowhere to go, so she went to a club that night and met someone and they took her back home with them and that was how she was able to get a good nights rest for a few months.

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I can truly see from a social worker standpoint that this transition can be rather difficult, especially when dealing with other departments, when trying to achieve one common goal with a child and their families. However, in my opinion, the system is so rigged in this aspect.. instead of trying to rehoused children from the homes that they were removed from. There is a need to figure out why they have to be removed. What’s the problem? and how can this be prevented because clearly the foster system isn’t the perfect solution for everyone that is being put into it. Yes! I do believe in dire circumstances children should be removed when it’s in the betterment of their safety and mental health well-being; but, they should be placed in a situation that’s better for them, and not with individuals that going into this program to collect another source of income for their selfish wants. Just as the authorities go undercover for a specific case in the police force there should be some kind of system set in place with this program similar to undercover work. Understanding that children are pivotal to our next generation and the success of the economy, and the longevity of a healthy mental health society, there should be a plan set in motion every year when the government sets their budget, including child welfare, and an unlimited amount of resources towards the needs that are set in place to ensure the safety and the highest amount of opportunities for them to thrive and succeed should be without a question, and without a doubt, set in place for every governmental year. Which should not only include persons who are at rock-bottom, but I do believe that in order to prevent poverty and children having to be removed from their household due to property society has what they consider as middle class and class and upper class standards. Preventing individual stats are in the lower class setting to receive the resources that’s needed for them after their children are removed from their household., when if they had received the resources that they needed when they were considered in the middle class, they would not have ended up in the lower class of property.

Hysolp continued on with his views on the foster care, and how the sense of security is not what it should be in the system, and children are being further on abused. Which, at the end of the day provides a future for them in the juvenile detention system, which evidently provides them a path to prison. Which is why I stated the child welfare is not always the safest and best choice and that the authorities should be investigating why children are either running away, getting in further violence, or even dying because of a solution they felt was a great idea, but did not follow through with every single aspect of that child’s well-being. Ultimately still need the care and support but the question is who provides it and will they take heed as to why it is so imperative to keep the well-being of children as their top priority. The fact that we are supposed to be a Christian nation, and a definition from my perspective is showing kindness to people that are unable to provide it, even if it’s in the mains of a smile towards that other person, they are a hard transition in their lives. Sometimes that’s all it takes.. if you’re not able to provide the financial support that may be needed in a hard moment for someone or to dedicate time and hours out at a shelter or even foster child, but just lending a shoulder or distributing kind words at a hard time can always put us in a step ahead towards the right direction, but often times we don’t even meet our own standards or our own ideal ways and being a Christian nation but yet we expect that the cycle to continue on us to fix problems that were never solved and previous generations without an effective roadmap to success

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