It is crucial that residential programs not talk out of both sides of their mouths. There is life and death in the power of the tongue. If your program assures families and parents that you can help a child work through significant trauma and behavior issues, it is NEVER ok to parade the children on social media or in front of anyone and say that their families “don’t want them” or make similar statements. Not only is that most likely a blatant lie, you are doing damage. DO NO HARM. The temptation to add drama to get monetary donations may be there, but it will do more damage than good. The children hear you say these things, and you have added to their hurt. PLEASE STOP if you are one of those programs. Children and their families have endured enough without this type of victimization at the hands of those they entrust to help them.
We all can help stop this by politely interrupting and correcting this type of misinformation whenever and wherever we see or hear it. PLEASE make an effort to keep programs honest. Kids hear these things. Families hear these things. Dollar chasing should not be the priority. Helping people to heal must come first.
Most residential programs have children who did not and could not receive all the help they needed even in foster care or from trauma that likely was in no way the current family’s fault. Families receive little to no help in most cases even finding help for their child. The notion that they “don’t care” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Please keep that in mind if you hear “sales pitches” lumping all families together as problematic. Add salt and light where needed.
Light for the Broken Road 