Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Down to One... For Now...

About a month ago I was all ready to write a post here about how I'd finally gotten my house emptied of "strays" again, and I was all jazzed about getting back to that "me time" thing.  Well, that situation didn't even last long enough for me to type up the post.  Before the dust even settled I had one back.  But at least it's just one.  Sigh...

I don't know what I'm going to do with this 16-year-old girl.  I really don't.  Not that she's a bad kid - she's not.  It's just that her needs are far, far more than I am equipped to handle right now.  I had found her a place to live; well, actually, she found a place to live, with a friend of her family, and I just helped set up arrangements with them.  I provided them with info and resources to help them with the issues (enrolling in school without any documentation or parent's signature, for example) that come along with taking in a kid whose parent won't sign any papers.  And her mom will not sign any papers.

That living arrangement didn't last long, though, before her mother "lured her back home" (those were the words of the family friend who had taken her in) and then promptly kicked her out again.  From what I've observed, I think the relationship between this girl and her mother is one of those "I don't really want to care for her but I don't want anyone else to have her, either, because that makes me look bad" situations.  In any case, I had her back at my doorstep in a matter of weeks.

This girl has lived so many places - bounced back and forth between parents, relatives, even Child Protective Services.  I don't want to go into great detail, though, since I try not to do that when talking about a specific kid here (you know, privacy and all).  I've probably said too much already.

I don't know where this is going, but I'm still working on trying to find her a stable, long-term home.  Everyone involved in her life - her mom and dad and different relatives - seems to have a different story or a different excuse every time I turn around.  It isn't clear to me at this point who even has legal custody of her, or who even has the right to sign certain papers or give certain permissions.  I never know who to believe, either, since everyone I talk to says something different about everyone else in the scenario.  The one thing that seems to be consistent, though, is that her mother is a bit... Unreasonable?  

I'm still reaching for that metaphorical oxygen mask for myself, but it seems to just brush the tips of my fingers and then fall away...