About those special needs children in Ohio.

[cornermouse]

Its incomprehensible to me that anyone would think that they could properly care for 11 disabled children unless they had a complete, fully manned support system in place.

At the least, they require and should have been getting hours and hours of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Its not inlikely that they required other therapy as well. That would have been extremely expensive and if adequate time was spent on each individual child per week, incredibly time consuming.

I don't know who had oversight, but that many adoptions of disabled children to one private residence should never, ever have been allowed.

[ohio_liberal]

1. I can't imagine adopting 11 children, disabled or not

How on earth could any one couple handle that many kids? I have 5 kids, ages 5-20, and I'm beyond exhaustion.

[cornermouse]

2. Me either.

[ohio_liberal]

3. I guess it's an Ohio thing?

I honestly don't know what the state and county were thinking. It's not the first time I've heard of that many kids living with one person/couple. When I worked in the Canton area I had business dealings with a woman who had a shitload of foster kids living in 2 or 3 different homes she owned.

[elehhhhna]

7. Nope--they moved to ohhio w/ the children.. From Florida.

[elehhhhna]

8. dupe

[LisaL]

5. How could they handle that many kids? They locked them up

in cages, didn't you hear?

[wellstone dem]

4. This is not too unusual

Sometimes it works very well I guess. If there are adequate support services. What folks don't understand is that even adopting one child from foster care can be challenging because of what the kids have gone through, and just because adding an older child to an existing family is kind of like an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, some people see adopting or fostering kids as a business, and not as building a family.

I am the adoptive mother of a child who was 9 when we became a family. My daughter now gives speeches to families considering adopting older children. At the last speech she was asked, "Should we do this, should we adopt an older child?" She replied, "Don't do it if you think it will be easy, because it won't be. But what's the satisfaction in only doing things that are easy." I am so proud of her.

[ohio_liberal]

6. I know how hard it is, for sure

I took in my son's friend when he was 12 and his Mum signed over physical custody about a year later. Fast forward 8 years and we're all still helping him find his way. I think of what we went though multiplied by 11 kids and it just blows my mind. I do have great admiration for the families who can care for all those kids and make it work. I've seen the stories where they make it work, and work well. But I always thought that was a rarity.

I know of people who have taken in multiple foster kids and treat the situation as a business. Heck, there are people who live a few streets over from me who have 4 foster kids and the kids are treated as free laborers more than anything else. It breaks my heart.

[elehhhhna]

9. Foster farming for cash is a growing self-employment option.

[leftylady]

10. I don't have children and it's a good thing

because I would probably put them in crates, too.