Here’s a way you can build your vocabulary and make a decision to do some positive good this year and for many years in the future. Romper.com recently ran a column titled “10 Words Only a Foster Parent Would Know.”
Some words were Latinate legal terms and others were acronyms for government bureaucracies. But there were a few that carried incalculable emotional baggage and only serve to emphasize what a crucial service for good and humanity foster parents provide.
The terms that struck me the hardest — as a long–time advocate for foster parenting and adoption — were “permanency,” “TPR,” and “trauma-versary.”
“Permanency” is the “end goal” for foster parenting. It means the child will have a permanent placement so he can form lasting bonds and finally know he belongs where he is on a forever basis. This term for foster kids means security, acceptance, and continuity all wrapped up in one descriptive term. Without “permanency” the child is never secure and always has another move, change in foster parents, or other disruption in their physical and emotional life looming just over the horizon. Permanency is simply the gold standard for foster care and the primary goal of the system.
“TRP” is an acronym with only three letters that contain all the problems that put the child in the foster care system in the first place. TRP represents “termination of parental rights.” It means the end of the world as they know it for the children, followed by a frightening plunge into the unknown future without anyone they know and in circumstances that are completely foreign.
As the column summed it up, “TPR is a tragedy no matter how you look at it and even if it's absolutely the right decision for the child.” TRP also serves to re-emphasize how important permanency is for the child.
Finally, there’s “trauma-versary.” It’s a neologism describing a date during the child’s life when something bad or particularly disruptive occurred. The event was so traumatic, hence the word, that when the time of year when the event happened comes around again the child exhibits “odd or disruptive behavior” that is otherwise inexplicable.
Foster children need extra support and understanding on their “trauma-versary,” but they also need love and understanding the rest of the year, too.
That’s why I’m urging readers — as we approach the most significant holiday of the year, which was a life-changing event for the world — to consider becoming part of a life-changing event for a child. Please think seriously about giving yourself and becoming a foster parent.
You’ll expand your vocabulary as you expand your family and expand the horizons of a child that desperately needs a family.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.