Beeb294

For context, I'm a moderator over at r/CPS (and you're welcome to join and contribute over there!) and I do some work adjacent to the Child Welfare system.

One thing I hear often in r/CPS is a common complaint about how "foster care rips kids from loving homes and messes them up!" There's allegations of abuse and corruption all the time. I'm understandably biased in how I see these statements because of my work, so I'm curious to hear your experiences and opinions.

Do you believe foster care was a positive thing for your life overall? Do you think it hurt you more than it helped?

Did you experience situations with caseworkers, foster parents, or courts where you thought they were acting unethically? Or illegally?

You talked about moving to different foster homes- what is your opinion on that experience? How did the upheaval of moving around affect your day-to-day life and feelings? Do you feel differently now with hindsight compared to what you felt in those moments?

I often hear a lot from the adults in the system, rarely do I get to hear from the youth who've been there, and I'm really interested to hear about your experiences and your opinions.

But as a rule of thumb, I decline to baptize peoples' kids until they are at least 9 or 10 precisely for that reason. I want their faith to be their choice, not because they were scared into it

I'm American Episcopal, for reference. Given this statement, what are your thoughts on the denominations who baptize children as babies, and use the rite of Confirmation as the mature choice of faith?

I can't speak for OP as to why he is in this line of work. But I want to point out that an important foundational principle of our justice system is that the accused individual is entitled to have effective counsel regardless of what they are accused of, and whether or not they are guilty. All persons deserve due process and adequate representation in court, reprehensible or otherwise. Defense attorneys ensure that the government actually provides that due process when depriving an individual of liberty, rights, or both.

Now I certainly hope that an attorney who solely provides a legal defense to criminals does some good and helps victims as well. But I find it hard to completely judge someone here for doing a necessary, if unattractive, job in our society.

Don't leave a car parked in the garage during the inspection; it prevents us from testing the garage door opener.

I'm curious, why?

In my state, Common Core has been incredibly restricting to teachers. The governor of my state has worked to push regulations through that grade teachers heavily in tests and not on classroom practice. The belief is that teachers shouldn't be graded as effective or highly effective if so many students are not passing these tests (which are based on new standards that these kids haven't been exposed to, and materials that teachers sometimes don't even have).

The standards and concept of Common Core is okay. The implementation has hurt education in my state dramatically and it sucks.