So in the meantime, [...] the reality is that the foster care system is filled to bursting with kids in limbo, who can't be placed in permanent homes because they are not "desirable" enough in adoptive terms
I think you've hit one of the focii of the argument, to mix a hideous metaphor. Society has conditioned itself to become much more insular, an "It's not my problem, I'm alright Jack" attitude. Comparisons with the very delineated society of 50-100 years ago are interesting, particularly the social and support structures of families and neighborhoods [1]; grandparents involved in children-raising, child development through activities such as playing on the street, tighter social bonding in communities.
(Which leads me off on a tangent; levels of depression (in a medical context) being apparently so high now compared to, say, forty years ago. Is it because it's now more widely recognised by the medical community? Or because people then were too busy to be depressed?)
While I sympathize with people who have addiction issues, is it responsible for us to say, "[...] they're your kids. You deal with 'em."
No, indeed, but I don't feel it's responsible for us to say either, "It's your problem and since you won't/can't solve it, you're gonna get removed from the gene pool because I'm too selfish to want to take care of your kid myself." I think we're in agreement here.
how do people who have been in this program feel about it in retrospect,
You listed a bunch of things that you wanted to look at, which I agree with (and thanks for the links). However, I'm not sure that talking to the subjects would yield any useful data; they'd be too subjective and without any sort of useful control group.
[1] I'm 1/4 American. I spell about 1/4 of my words in Amercianese. :^)
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From: (Anonymous)
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I think you've hit one of the focii of the argument, to mix a hideous metaphor. Society has conditioned itself to become much more insular, an "It's not my problem, I'm alright Jack" attitude. Comparisons with the very delineated society of 50-100 years ago are interesting, particularly the social and support structures of families and neighborhoods [1]; grandparents involved in children-raising, child development through activities such as playing on the street, tighter social bonding in communities.
(Which leads me off on a tangent; levels of depression (in a medical context) being apparently so high now compared to, say, forty years ago. Is it because it's now more widely recognised by the medical community? Or because people then were too busy to be depressed?)
While I sympathize with people who have addiction issues, is it responsible for us to say, "[...] they're your kids. You deal with 'em."
No, indeed, but I don't feel it's responsible for us to say either, "It's your problem and since you won't/can't solve it, you're gonna get removed from the gene pool because I'm too selfish to want to take care of your kid myself." I think we're in agreement here.
how do people who have been in this program feel about it in retrospect,
You listed a bunch of things that you wanted to look at, which I agree with (and thanks for the links). However, I'm not sure that talking to the subjects would yield any useful data; they'd be too subjective and without any sort of useful control group.
[1] I'm 1/4 American. I spell about 1/4 of my words in Amercianese. :^)