Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pray for Adam an everyday hero

  Today I am going to talk about my friend Adam. Adam is the foster son of my best friend and partner Shawnette. Adam has been with Shawnette and her family since he was four years old. Today he is 20. Adam has a fairly severe case of Cerebral Palsy and is very compromised in his use of his arms, legs, hands, and mouth. He can speak but very slowly and with very poor pronunciation.Very few people can understand him. Adam's mind is amazing he is above average in intelligence but socially he is young. Adam needs constant care because he needs help dressing, taking care of his personal hygiene, and eating. He cannot write, he can never drive, he has a lot of spasticity in his movements. Social Services and his friends and family and the group home he is  now in have been unable to find him employment because of his limitations.
   Adam is still under the umbrella of social services. Adam  had to be removed from Shawnette's home in his late teens due to behavioral issues that to this day have not been diagnosed or understood. Adam has been medicated and treated extensively  with behavioral therapy. During this time social services tried to end Shawnette's permanent foster relationship with Adam against her will and  Adam's will. After a very hard fought costly and complicated legal battle social services backed down and apologized to Shawnette and her family... but that was it.  Social Services did not have to follow the same laws as we do and they were not held responsible for their actions when they acted irresponsibly and illegally.  Adam came very close to death and had to have multiple surgeries because of injuries incurred during a bad placement by Social Services during this time period. Adam was blessed to finally end up in a group home that stabilized his anxiety and gave him a place he could be comfortable away from his home. Adam is hoping to get placement in the Virginia Home sometime in the near future but he is on a waiting list that is unknown in its length. Adam's best friend Otto has  already been placed there.
    It is Adam's desire to overcome his affliction along with his placement in a caring group home that accommodates him and his disability with grace and dignity, that are both the catalysts that have brought him to a stable, happy place. But now new foster care laws are threatening to make Adam be moved for at least the 5th placement until he can be placed in the Virginia Home. Change is not an easy thing for Adam and often it brings him back to self destructive behaviors. If he displays any of these behaviors then he will be disqualified from getting into the Virginia Home...so why??? Why! move him?....the answer is probably money. What the powers that be do not take into account is that if he is moved suddenly and without being prepared they will probably have to ultimately deal with another hospitalization or medical placement (Way more expensive!) caused by not paying attention to his history. Read the file folks...or you will be spending more money than ever when he falls from his stable place that we have all paid for dearly in time, love and constant reassurance that all things will work out for the best in the end. Please let it be so that we have told Adam the truth... that all things will work out for the best. Adam cannot fight his own battles and Shawnette has been disregarded one to many times by an agency that has incredible turn over and little follow thru. When a new social worker takes over Adam's case, Adam seems to be nothing more than a file folder...It should be a file folder that fills several drawers and has continuity, but it seems each new worker only has limited history to go by thereby each new social worker seems to start over at square one...I am not sure where all of the documentation goes?
    I am asking for everyone who reads this to give Adam and Shawnette a spot in your prayers. He has nearly finished the race, scored a touchdown, and hit the jackpot with a pending placement in the Virginia Home. Pray for social services to truly keep his best interest at heart...Pray for wisdom and calm and consistency in Adam's life. Pray for his protection....
     thanks so much for reading...Shawnette has no idea I am writing this and I take full responsibility for all that I write. Let  truth stand and shine the light!.
Thanks for reading

Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Bringing a bit of the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!
   

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