Ann suffered irreversible brain damage in utero from her mother’s heavy drug use, but the state gave her mother a “second chance.” Ann was abused again. Today Ann is five-years-old living in an institutional setting.
“My name is Mary, and I’m turning 17-years-old. I’ve been in foster care since I was one. My brothers got adopted, but I didn’t. I have lived with 43 different families.”
“My name is Adam. My parents adopted me from foster care when I was a baby. I just graduated from ASU!”
Every Number Has a Name
Every 15 minutes, an American baby is born suffering opiate withdrawal. With their parents unwilling or unable to get clean, 45,000 infants will be consigned to state foster care systems this year. Many will spend their entire lives as wards of the state. Foster care should be an inflection point in a child’s life, not a life sentence. These babies have little or no representation in court, and few legal rights to be returned home safely, to relatives, or to be adopted. We exist to return those basic rights to children.
Justice Can't Wait.