Sara: An American Tragedy

 Sara was only 5 years old when her parents were killed in a plane crash. She was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a strange city she new nothing about. Sara was afraid and she wanted her mommy and daddy. what was to become of her? How was she supposed to grow up without them?

Sara’s cousins didn’t like her being in their house but they weren’t really mean to her. They just kept reminding her that she didn’t belong there and was only living with them because her mommy and daddy died.

One day her uncle lost his job and Sara was told that she couldn’t live with them any more because they couldn’t afford to take care of her. The next morning she was shuffled off to foster care. Sara was crying most of the time and no one could comfort her.

After a few weeks, Sara started responding to the kindness of the foster parents and seemed to settle in. Just as she began to feel safe the social worker came and got her and moved her to another home where she wasn’t treated so kindly. This was to be her life  until she turned 13.  Just 2 weeks after she had her 13th birthday, Sara ran away from the 5th foster home. she thought at least this way she could pick the time she left instead of some social worker that would come to remove her again. 10 days later sweet Sara is found dead under a heap of trash. The victim of a child predator.

The sad thing is this didn’t have to happen. You see, Sara had Grandparents who wanted her and loved her but social services decided that they were to old to take on the responsibility of a young child. Her grandmother was 46 and her grandfather 51 when Sara’s parents died. What is wrong with this system? Why should anyone think it is better to shuffle a child from strangers to strangers rather then to allow them the stability of a loving home with grandparents?  Age is no guarantee that the child will have the person forever. Look what happened to Sara’s parents. Our foster care system is broken and so is the CPS system. people need to demand change for the sake of our children.

Every day children are removed from safe loving homes because someone in the system feels that the child shouldn’t be with grandparents because they need someone younger or richer to take care of them. Well thats hog wash! kids are always better off with those that love them and will provide a safe enviornment for them to grow up in. It’s time to fight back against this broken system that causes so much harm to the children. It’s time to call our senators and representatives and demand grandparents rights.