Headlines:
| A woman’s struggle to adopt a child, by Keisha Ann Sleight |
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| Monday, 13 April 2009 | |
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How hard is it
to adopt a child? Armed with her desire to provide a loving home for an abandoned child, Sherine Panton has been fighting to foster and then adopt a young boy and RJR has been investigating her efforts to do so. Sherine was always a caring person so it was no surprise to her family when she told them she wanted to give back by fostering a child. The idea came to her after seeing a December 2008 advertisement from the Child Development Agency (CDA), asking persons to volunteer to foster a child for the Christmas holidays, so without hesitation she called. "I thought it was a good gesture so I called them and they told me what to do. They said I needed to start the process in St. Catherine because I live in Portmore so, I called the place and someone came to look at (my) house," said Sherine. It was not long before a 1-year old boy from the Maxfield Park Children's Home in Kingston was with her. At first, he shied away from hugs and did not interact much but after showering him with love, he became very active and was soon bouncing off the walls, offering his hand for human contact. With his bright eyes and cheerful spirit, Sherine quickly became attached to the little boy and was contemplating becoming his foster parent for much longer than Christmas.  With this in
mind, Sherine consulted the CDA.She said they were welcoming and gave her forms to fill out and directed her to the many sessions she would have to go through to make it happen. Sherine was happy the day she returned to take the boy, she now called her son, from the Maxfield Park Children's Home and he too was ecstatic to be with her. "That was my Christmas ... it wasn't Christmas yet, but that was my Christmas. I didn't go to work that day I went and got some stuff from him as I wasn't sure what he was coming to me with," she said. According to Sherine, that day he ran to her and greeted her with a hug wider than anyone thought his little arms could make. A child without an identity The little boy stayed with Sherine for two months and she started contemplating adoption, but little did she know what was to come. She said when she mentioned this to the CDA officers she was told that the child had already been matched with another person who lived overseas and not long afterwards, she was ordered to return him to the home. "I couldn't go to work that day as I knew that I had to return him. I cried when I got there and I asked one of the workers there if I could stay with him. I left there late in the night when they told me I had to give him up now. I was very traumatic for me knowing that I didn't want to but I had to and I was wondering what was he was thinking," Sherine said. After several calls and weekend visits to Maxfield Park, Sherine discovered that there were many flaws with the CDA's system of foster care.  Firstly, there
was a problem with the filing system as the name that she was given for him was
not his real name."I did the paper work for the adoption and they told me that if I'm approved, they're doing placements in late January so I'd get him then. I called them at the end of January and they said they were couldn't find his file. "When I saw that things were not going anywhere, I called them back and they told me that there was a mix-up with the names." You don't want another one? February was the last time Sherine was granted a week with her foster child and since then, she has spent hours on the phone trying to find a way to adopt him. "When I learnt he was on the adoption list I lost it. I asked them how a child who was up for adoption was on the fostering list and they said buoy, they don't know because he has been up for adoption all this time." Sherine said she was told that there were other children there she could foster.  "Before all of
this happened, they called and told me to come to this foster parent thing at
the CDA which I did twice. Then I said since I'm not going to get him, why
bother go through all of this. They said to me ‘so, you don't want another one?'
... and I asked them, are theses children toys ... you play with this one today and
then tomorrow, give me that one as I don't want this one," Sherine said.But even as she fights to adopt the little boy, as early as last week he was still at the home. Two step process in adopting Sherine is mystified as to why she was not the first person considered. "They told me that the matter was no longer being handled by the Spanish Town branch of the CDA and I was to go to the CDA's Kingston office on Duke Street downtown as the child was housed at Maxfield. I went and I spoke with a lady who told me she's very sorry but things like these do happen." RJR' contacted the CDA searching for answers for Sherine and was directed to Valerie Mohammad, team leader for the Foster Care Programme in the South East Region.  She said the
application in respect of foster care was a two step process, Form 1 and Form
2."Prospective foster parents would complete Form 1 with things like their date of birth, TRN (Taxpayers Registration Number), information about their accommodation, health etc. The completed form would then be returned to the CDA with two references and two certified passports size photographs. "This form is then reviewed and a decision made for a social worker assessment to be undertaken and that would be the beginning of step two," said Miss Mohammad. According to her, step two includes home assessment, assessment of the applicant's ability and competence to parent a child and training. But Sherine had done all this and was seen as someone fit to foster a child. When questioned about the confusion over the child's name, Miss Mohammed admitted that this was strange. She said she had not heard about that and asked if this was a case at the Child Development Agency. "I not aware of that and I don't know how that would happen as we would be placing ourselves in a position where we would be playing games with a child's identity." She later explained that the child's name could only be confused if the child had been abandoned and was given a name before the CDA discovered his real name. Flawed adoption system And to the question of a child being placed in foster care even though he is in line for adoption Miss Mohammad said, the CDA wouldn't place a child in foster care with a plan for adoption. "There have been cases where person who are perhaps abroad who want to adopt a child identified somebody, (say) a family member, who would take on the care of the child (in there absence). That child would then be in foster care with that (family member). "That foster care would be kept up-to-date throughout the process with their interaction with the prospective adopter as well as with us at the CDA," Miss Mohammad said. But no one could explain why Sherine was experiencing the difficulties that she has encountered. According to Miss Mohammad, what Sherine is going through is rather strange and must be a one off case. Miss Mohammad and the CDA officials said they would examine her case, however Sherine is yet to get a call from any officer there and is still searching for answers to her many questions. I will get him back!  But as she
worries about the boy's well being and ponders whether the person he has been
promised to will surface, or if she will ever get a chance to be a mother to
him, she continues her fight. Sherine says she continues to check on him at the home and tries to contact officers from the CDA for help but to no avail. She says the problems with the system will drive away anyone who wants to help a child. "It's not fair for him ... he was in a place by himself, his mother decided she didn't want him and someone here wants and love him but they're going to give him to someone else ... that's not fair. "If I had known all this from the beginning, I wouldn't have tried because trust me, I can't deal with it. Even when I'm taking him back to Maxfield on a Monday afternoon, he and I are crying ... I don't want o take him back, but I have to," she said. "Nothing for him has been moved in my house because I am hoping that on day, one day I will get him back," Sherine declared. In response to RJR's feature, the Child Development Agency sent this statement. The CDA is aware
that RJR is to run a story in relation to a complaint that has been registered
with us and which is being dealt with at the highest level.The Agency has declined RJR's invitation to discuss the matter as to do so would contravene social work ethic and best practice because we would then be divulging privileged information about our clients. We recognize that participating in the discussion would allow us to clear the air, from our perspective, and whilst this might be the easiest thing to do; we do not think it is the right thing to do. The CDA gives the assurance that we will continue our efforts to resolve this matter in the best interest of the child. |