July 15, 2012

Big Government Foster Care: A Toddler's Case at Children's Court

By Joshua Allen
It is the late afternoon, and foster parent Jeanette Ledesma sits in the waiting room at the Ed Edelman's Children's Court in Los Angeles.  This morning, concerned about being late, Jeanette had left her Lancaster home at 6:00 AM for the two-hour trip.  She was relieved to be on time, and to have found a scarce parking place nearby. Jeanette is the foster parent of a little girl named Patricia.  Jeanette is in court today because she wants to tell the judge how infrequently Patricia's birth mother visits.  The birth mother has seen Patricia five times in the past year.  Patricia has lived with Jeanette since birth, and Jeanette wants to adopt her before she turns three years old in a few months.    The waiting area is large and noisy.  It is packed with children at play, shouting bailiffs, chatting grandparents, whispering lawyers, and the sounds of electronic toys. Foster children, transported here by bus, are confined to a small play...(Read Full Article)