Now that was interesting - and unexpected
Nov. 9th, 2004 07:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgI'm not certain what TIES is supposed to stand for (the documentation is all still in the car, bad Jim!) - but this is the three-session, nine-hour class UCLA sponsors/runs in conjunction with DCFS as a pilot program to provide stable, nurturing families for children born drug-exposed that are placed for adoption.
Whew. That's mouthful. In short, if you do these three sessions, TIES will pick up the tab for any care you have to provide for a child placed with you through DCFS if they need it. Medical, education, therapy - whatever. They bill Medi-Cal for it - but as a child placed through DCFS, I guess you don't have to meet the fiscal requirements (Divest everything! NOW!) to get it. From birth through age 10 (they just upped the age limit this year). Annnnd - they're beginning a pilot program in Torrance! (It's been in West LA and only West LA from inception - nine years ago.)
Rules of the road include "what's said in this room stays in this room" so no discussion of what was discussed in class. Sowwy.
It begins at 6:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM.
Our MAPP class was smaller, and we were the only crackers in the box. We were also one of only two or three couples in that class.
TIES is so different. One, it's about four times as large. Two, I think there are only two individuals - the rest are couples. We're a box of saltines, with a few exceptions. Similar socio-economic status. (Found another couple in our neighborhood!)
And there are five same-sex partnerships. Four male, one female.
I might add that my opinions on homosexuality tend to be drawn from first-hand experience. People are not in this class to take on the easy kids - or babies - though a lot of the discussion centered on babies. When all of these couples introduced themselves (and you had to) - nobody questioned them, objected or walked out in a huff. Probably because they had been subjected to the same scrutiny any of the rest of us had - and had come out on the other end certified as acceptable. So much for homosexuals being pedophiles. I'll have to count noses - but with that many couples in the room, the ratio of straight to gay is something on the order of 1/3 to 1/2 of the total.
The other interesting tidbit is that the research on drug-exposure during pregnancy is not the doom and gloom it was in the late 80's, early 90's. Alcohol exposure is still the most damaging, life-long. But the research, as time is going on, is showing that good parenting - good, stable, nurturing parenting - overcomes early drug exposure. They are now looking towards the other issues surrounding a child drug-exposed in the womb, and finding those factors are more likely to be the cause of the poor outcomes - poverty, crime, neglect; for example. Early intervention into those problems has more to do with good/bad outcomes than the drug exposure.
Hence, this pilot program.
The director of the program addressing us last night told us that they have had a number of gifted children in their program, born drug-addicted. Yes, some children have problems, but the vast majority go on to lead lives with normal, average, run-of-the-mill intelligence.
This is encouraging, since it's 98% probable that our adoptive child will be drug-exposed.
I might just say this alone - so it sticks. Alcohol exposure still does more damage than any other recreational drug exposure. FAS and FAE is pervasive, and permanent. You might see crack babies die in the womb from exposure due to strokes, etc. But FAS babies live - and live extremely compromised lives. You might think that alcohol exposure is not as bad as crack - I think the research is going to disprove that. No drug exposure is good, of course - but believe it or not, I'd likely perceive a crack baby with no obvious defects (they will check, the TIES group will, before placement) as less affected than a child obviously alcohol affected.
I'm sure there will be more. They only have nine hours to do it all in - I expect it's going to be like getting an intellectual Power Bar with a Red Bull chaser.
Whew. That's mouthful. In short, if you do these three sessions, TIES will pick up the tab for any care you have to provide for a child placed with you through DCFS if they need it. Medical, education, therapy - whatever. They bill Medi-Cal for it - but as a child placed through DCFS, I guess you don't have to meet the fiscal requirements (Divest everything! NOW!) to get it. From birth through age 10 (they just upped the age limit this year). Annnnd - they're beginning a pilot program in Torrance! (It's been in West LA and only West LA from inception - nine years ago.)
Rules of the road include "what's said in this room stays in this room" so no discussion of what was discussed in class. Sowwy.
It begins at 6:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM.
Our MAPP class was smaller, and we were the only crackers in the box. We were also one of only two or three couples in that class.
TIES is so different. One, it's about four times as large. Two, I think there are only two individuals - the rest are couples. We're a box of saltines, with a few exceptions. Similar socio-economic status. (Found another couple in our neighborhood!)
And there are five same-sex partnerships. Four male, one female.
I might add that my opinions on homosexuality tend to be drawn from first-hand experience. People are not in this class to take on the easy kids - or babies - though a lot of the discussion centered on babies. When all of these couples introduced themselves (and you had to) - nobody questioned them, objected or walked out in a huff. Probably because they had been subjected to the same scrutiny any of the rest of us had - and had come out on the other end certified as acceptable. So much for homosexuals being pedophiles. I'll have to count noses - but with that many couples in the room, the ratio of straight to gay is something on the order of 1/3 to 1/2 of the total.
The other interesting tidbit is that the research on drug-exposure during pregnancy is not the doom and gloom it was in the late 80's, early 90's. Alcohol exposure is still the most damaging, life-long. But the research, as time is going on, is showing that good parenting - good, stable, nurturing parenting - overcomes early drug exposure. They are now looking towards the other issues surrounding a child drug-exposed in the womb, and finding those factors are more likely to be the cause of the poor outcomes - poverty, crime, neglect; for example. Early intervention into those problems has more to do with good/bad outcomes than the drug exposure.
Hence, this pilot program.
The director of the program addressing us last night told us that they have had a number of gifted children in their program, born drug-addicted. Yes, some children have problems, but the vast majority go on to lead lives with normal, average, run-of-the-mill intelligence.
This is encouraging, since it's 98% probable that our adoptive child will be drug-exposed.
I might just say this alone - so it sticks. Alcohol exposure still does more damage than any other recreational drug exposure. FAS and FAE is pervasive, and permanent. You might see crack babies die in the womb from exposure due to strokes, etc. But FAS babies live - and live extremely compromised lives. You might think that alcohol exposure is not as bad as crack - I think the research is going to disprove that. No drug exposure is good, of course - but believe it or not, I'd likely perceive a crack baby with no obvious defects (they will check, the TIES group will, before placement) as less affected than a child obviously alcohol affected.
I'm sure there will be more. They only have nine hours to do it all in - I expect it's going to be like getting an intellectual Power Bar with a Red Bull chaser.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:42 am (UTC)And I just adore you. There, I said it again....
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:43 am (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:54 am (UTC)Best wishes to you and your hubby in your quest! I will be following your progress as I try to figure out how I can create a "family" for myself. I have had to put my quest on hold till I can get a job, but I haven't forgotten it.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 11:17 am (UTC)Was Dr. Tyler there? She is awesome!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 08:17 pm (UTC)Defray adoption costs?
Date: 2004-11-16 09:26 pm (UTC)Re: Defray adoption costs?
Date: 2004-11-17 07:34 am (UTC)If you want to do a private adoption, yup, they're expensive.