Having been in foster care for eleven years, I feel the frustration of many child welfare advocates when another news report comes out implying that foster youth are just poor abused kids robbing, shooting, vandalizing, or committing some other act of violence in retaliation for their upbringing. I myself have experienced the burdens of this stereotype. When being introduced to my friends’ parents I would fantasize saying: “Hi, my name is La Terra, I am in foster care, and no I am not a drug addict, criminal, teenage mother, thief, or any other description you may have heard on the news. Just La Terra.”
