Other scenarios include parents who are in and out of jail and parents who lose their children and then regain custody just to lose custody again, therefore the children are pulled from their parents’ home and placed into a foster or group home. Unfortunately, many of the older children do not get adopted as they are believed to have behavioral issues. The goal is to reunite the children with their parents (or guardian from whom they were removed) unless the parents have given up rights to the children then, the goal is to have the children adopted. Depending on their age and available space, they will be placed in either a foster home or a group home. After someone files a complaint of abuse or negligence, an investigation takes place and if the authorities deem the home unsafe and/or the parents’ neglectful or abusive (which can include drug use around children), the authorities then take the children. The foster care system operates in a seemingly linear manner. Beam weaves an intricate story where race and poverty undergird this complicated system. Drawing from her own experiences with a dysfunctional mother, Beam questions how America’s foster care system has gotten to a point where children are taken from their families and placed in either foster homes or group homes. In To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care, author Cris Beam illuminates the complex issues facing America’s foster care system. College of Education, Undergraduate Student Services

To the End of June by Cris Beam