with potential and the parents that were too far gone to help. She had helped me recognize my limits, and she taught me how to focus on the children and not so much on the parents. I couldn’t change people who didn’t want to change. But I could make sure I was there for the children as much as I could be.
Jennifer Tingly was one of the parents that are too far gone to help. Her son has been taken away from her three times, and each time she cleaned her act up just good enough to get him back because he came with a government check. She was on every low-income program available and I knew she could make it work with all that additional help; she just didn’t want to.
She wanted her next fix more than she wanted what was best for her son. And that judgement was what made me not good at my job. A former addict or a person who’s had close personal experiences with an addict could sympathize that it wasn’t that simple. They could understand the struggle way better than I could. I didn’t have any children, but I couldn’t imagine needing something so badly that I’d risk losing my children for it. I couldn’t imagine being addicted to something so severely that I could witness my children going hungry and not care enough to get help.
“Jennifer, you are on welfare, home care, the Liberty Church meal program, and a few other programs,” I reminded her. “You should be able to get by. Darian should not be needed to smuggle food from the cafeteria at school so that he could have something to eat for dinner.” The school counselor had called me yesterday to tell me that a horrible smell had been coming from his backpack and when the teacher had opened it to clean it out, she noticed rotten food stuck to the lining. When she asked Darian about it, he admitted to taking food home from the cafeteria.
I had wanted to hunt Jennifer down and beat the ever lovin’ crap out of her.
Instead, I showed up today, unannounced while Darian was at school, to check on their home situation. I made bi-weekly visits; however, they were scheduled and now I knew Jennifer had been making sure everything was presentable on those days. I was going to have to transfer her case to random visits once a week. Because today’s unexpected visit revealed an empty refrigerator, a dirty house, and a stranger I had to ask to leave.
Fucking assholes.
I let out a low, calming breath. “Have you given any consideration to the Schiffers’ offer to adopt Darian?” I knew she was going to get bitchy, but Corey and Mara Schiffer were foster parents who had fallen in love with Darian the first time he was placed with them. Despite his care, Darian was a pleasant, little six-year-old boy who hadn’t been completely tainted yet. Corey and Mara adopting him was the best thing that could probably happen to him at this point.
“See!” she screeched. “You’re just like all the rest. You just want to give my baby away.”
One. Two. Three. Four. Five…
“That’s not true, Jennifer,” I replied. “I just want what’s best for Darian. And a stable home where he’s fed and clothed regularly would provide that for him.”
Jennifer’s once pretty face flushed with anger. “Says you,” she spat. “How do you know they’re not beating him or molesting him when he’s with them? What makes them better?”
A lot of things, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. The first year on the job, I had almost gotten into three different physical altercations, but because we were always so short-staffed, I hadn’t lost my job. However, I did learn how to control my temper better.
“They’re good people, Jennifer,” I said ignoring her accusations. One thing I did know, and that was that the Schiffers did not abuse their foster children. I lived in a shitty one-bedroom on the bad side of town to make sure of it. After my second year as a social worker, and a constant string of heartbreaks, I made sure every child I had, who was placed in foster care, got monthly physicals to check for any signs of abuse. I paid for it out of my own pocket, and while it forced me to live like a beggar, it was worth my peace of mind a million times over. Plus, the regular clinics I used knew what