Area foster families need diversity tools

The Forum ^ | May 11, 2008 | Andrea Domaskin

[Last Dakotan]

The Red River Valley needs more resources for foster parents to care for culturally and diverse children, a foster parent says.

Jill Sherbrooke said it took awhile to figure out that her 7-year-old foster child is Muslim and shouldn’t have pork or marshmallows, for example.

“We have no idea even where to go, how to help her learn about her background, her culture, her religion,” Sherbrooke said last week of the girl, who is from Liberia.

[Desron13]

"“We have no idea even where to go, how to help her learn about her background, her culture, her religion,” Sherbrooke said last week of the girl, who is from Liberia."

Hey bird brain, how about raising the kid into Christianity if in fact your Christian which I seriously doubt. Or Buddhism if that's your religion. The kid has been removed from the parents for whatever reason. It's not in Liberia any more you fool. If it's a girl, does that mean your going to perform the usual Muzzy genital mutilation as well. Got to be culturally sensitive you know.

[TxAg1981]

If the Health Services (or child services, whatever its called there) want to retain the culture of the children then they’ll have to teach the foster parents how to beat their wives mercilessly as well as their children. I thought the goal was to remove them from dangerous/abusive situations. Obviously I was wrong and the goal really is to maintain the environment in which the kids were raised.

[MrB]

Let’s see - what culture is obviously the BEST (oooh, the horror again)?

I base this “BEST” evaluation on the relative success and wealth in such a relatively short time period.

So, given this, why would we want to handicap any children with an inferior culture when we have a chance to raise them in the best one?

Any multicultural/diversity believer reading the above just shorted out.

[gtk]

I think a lot of people are missing the fact that these are foster parents, not adoptive parents. The social services agency will be trying to reunite the children with their Muslim family. The children are wards of the state and forcing a religious conversion or disrespecting the religious customs is an area I don’t want the state involved in.

[Rebelbase]

"First I ever heard muslims don't like marshmallows... "

"Dang racists!"

[Rebelbase]

“It’s not in Liberia any more you fool. If it’s a girl, does that mean your going to perform the usual Muzzy genital mutilation as well.”

Just give it a bit of time and that’ll be a freebie down at the County Health Clinic.

[Madame Dufarge]

Mo money for bs.

Yup. Jill is no mere foster parent, she's a "consultant."

$15,000 (for a two-year period) with Jill Sherbrooke for foster parent mentoring coordination

Gimme money

[Last Dakotan]

...and forcing a religious conversion or disrespecting the religious customs is an area I don’t want the state involved in.

So the State should provide the genital mutilation she would normally receive at this age? Or shall we inform these well intentioned but ignorant foster parents that it is their duty?

[gtk]

Well, first of all the “well intentioned but ignorant foster parents” are acting as a paid agent of the state via court orders. Their personal views of the parent's and, indeed, their own religion should have nothing to do with the care of the children.

From the social services view point, disrespect for the parent's religion will make it more difficult to help children within that community. If reporting your neighbor results in the removal of the children and forced conversion to Christianity or Judaism, the community will not report abuse or child endangerment.

This does beg the question, do they perform bris on Jews in foster care? I strongly suspect that they do, but that mutilation is legal, where as female mutilation is not.