It’s the child at gymnastics who smiles at a dad he’s only known a month. It’s the teenager applying for a job who hesitates when she fills out the address portion of the paperwork. It’s the boy who sits at the back of the class – the one who missed school for a funeral.
That’s what being orphaned by drugs looks like.
It looks like the kids you know, or might know, the ones you pass in the grocery store or smile at across the street. The ones at the ‘Y’ when you pick up your child from after-school care. Like children from all sorts of families and all walks of life.
It looks like sitting in a social worker’s office as white noise machines hum and someone tries to contact your next of kin. It looks like staying with another family for the night –a week- a month.
It looks like foster care.
It looks like this (see video).
I know it seems unbelievable, like “where are all these children?” But the reality is that it’s hidden in our own communities. It’s really that bad – Secret of the hidden children explains why. Read it here. Because, being orphaned by drugs can look like that.
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Thank you to Holly Spencer-Trueman at OhioGuidestone for her encouraging comments and sending me the above TV interview originally posted on Clevland19.com.
“Sarah, I just wanted to thank you for writing such a powerful piece. It makes so much sense to the average person – putting the issue in context the way you did. I indirectly quoted you in a tv interview but unfortunately wasn’t given the opportunity to give you credit (even though I had your name written on my folder!!) I hope you don’t see that as a slight, but as another opportunity use your wisdom to recruit more foster parents to do the work we do!”
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