Dependency Court Youths

“Despair of the ‘System Kids’ ” (Twice Abused: Inside Orange County’s Child Welfare System, series, May 21-23) was very touching. It is very sad and unfortunate that the child welfare system’s kids are placed in county homes, and yet some of them come out--at age 18--without a high school education and with no job skills. I think that when county homes take children into their care, they should be obligated to keep these children in school until they graduate from high school.

I know this is easier said than done, but if people are really sincere in caring for abused kids, they would treat those children as they would their own. Many folks have said that foster parents are taking care of abused children just for the money. Maybe this is why the lives of “system kids” turn out to be bad.

BARBARA HOBBS

Gardena

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I read this article with much interest. Not as a current or former child caught up in the system, but as a parent. As a single, hard-working parent, I did my best, which is quite often not enough for a cocky ninth-grader. My child was backed up not only by an ignorant high school counselor but, much to my distress, by interfering grandparents. Although interviewed at length by Children’s Services and told she would never be removed from my home to be placed in the “system,” that is exactly what happened in court.

I was not abusive or a drug addict. Two things I feel were held against me were that as a single parent I worked long hours to provide and that I did not allow my child to run wild (or at least attempted the latter). Please do not let this just be another article that is forgotten in a week. Keep printing articles that someday, in some way, will change this system.

B. LEE

Glendale

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I wish to thank Tracy Weber for her article. As a former “system kid” (now 36), I think it is an honest portrayal of what life is like for most unwanted youth. My own experience reveals that there is little distinction between the abuse I suffered at the hands of my parents and the mental and physical cruelty suffered as a result of being placed in foster care/group homes.

These youths are among the most mistreated children in America. I pray that these articles will expose the truth and assist in public-mandated reforms.

KENNETH D. McINTOSH

Desert Hot Springs