Today, I read a question in my all things adoption (which includes foster care) – I have a quick question regarding fostering. From time to time, local advocacy groups will try to find families to temporarily foster Muslim children. There’s not a ton of Muslims in our state, and most foster agencies/related organizations are Christian run and not interested in respecting a child’s religious or cultural background. Somewhere somehow, a Muslim volunteer gets involved and desperately tries to find a family to take the child in. Is it, in this situation, ethnical or morally okay for me to take the child in temporarily? I am not super familiar with the foster system, but I have the resources to care for another child temporarily and would do so only with reunification in mind. I just don’t want to cause harm.
One response led me to the organization who’s logo I am using as an image today – Michigan has a large Muslim population and we have a support organization that walks favors the process of being a foster parent AND provides reunification supports for the parents. If you can provide temporary care, and the children have been removed from their parents’ care, please offer a home that is culturally aware.
One adoptee noted – So often Muslim children are thrown into Christian homes and their beliefs aren’t respected out of ignorance or worse. The reality is foster parents are needed, that’s not going to change in the near future. Remember, the goal is foster care is reunification. You should be working with mom and dad, not against them.
Another adoptee notes – If your can fully support reunification in an informed way, you’d be an ideal placement for a Muslim child who needs to remain in their community or culture of origin. The Muslim view on adoption would be respected by you in a way it wouldn’t be by most foster parents, should the case plan change from reunification. You’d still be voluntarily interacting with a corrupt system so it wouldn’t be 100% ethical, but any children, especially Muslim children, would likely have a far better outcome being placed with you vs the other foster parents in your area.
One social worker wrote – it is ok to take the child in if you are respectful of food choices (such as no pork) and are willing to provide access to their religious preferences such as taking them to a mosque.
So I searched and found the LINK>Muslim Foster Care Association. Their impact statement reads – we strive to enable Muslim children in the foster care system to thrive, flourish and be their best as human beings, Muslims, and contributing members of society. Every year we serve over 200 Muslim children in the foster care system throughout Michigan and with the help of our generous donors, raise thousands of dollars to fund our programs. Our goal is to create innovative solutions to the challenges faced by Muslim youth in various stages of their transition.
So for anyone who wants to do something more than protest the situation in Gaza, I am happy to lend awareness to this organization. I realize that supporting this organization does NOT impact what is happening in the Middle East. This is just some people trying to make a positive difference here in the US.
Missing Mom 