What is it going to take? How many horror stories must be endured? How many times do we need to re-learn the lesson that religious organizations simply cannot be trusted to care for children. This is beyond inexcusable.
Ummm ... Oregon? I gots a word for you, a word that seems to be lacking in this whole Christian foster care thing, and it's something you should be employing and aren't:
There are so many problems with this set up it's hard to figure out where to start. As a result, I'm going to pick one: unjustified privilege.
No other group or religion would be allowed to do this, never mind paid by the state for caring for kids in this manner. Despite how frequently we hear Christians scream about how persecuted they are as a group, this Dynamic Life is a Christian organization going completely without oversight specifically because 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. There is no other reason for this non profit to operate without oversight other than its Christian affiliation. Indeed, any other group without a Christian affiliation would be laughed out of the room for suggesting they might not need oversight, even if they had some other religious affiliation.
The worst part of this is that it's becoming very clear that Christian organizations aren't really doing this because it's the right thing to do: they're in it for the money and power. In the purest sense, Christian organizations that take in foster kids should be doing this at no charge to the government or anyone else, since that would be the loving care described in at least some of the words of Jesus. Brutal honesty here: there are plenty of large churches around that have the money to do this at little or no charge to the taxpayer, but they don't do that. Why? Because they can make money instead. I won't even try to pretend this doesn't make me angry as all h3ll. These kids have already, in most cases, been traumatized and mistreated, and now instead of the help they need, these churches want to make money off their suffering. Fury and disgust seem completely appropriate reactions on the matter.
The state is now saying it's investigating, which I suppose is something that's marginally better than nothing at all. Quite bluntly, though, what needs to happen nationwide is the end of Christian privilege in all its forms; that privilege is responsible for harm to the most vulnerable members of society on an entirely too frequent basis. 'Suffer the children' was not intended as a direction to hurt said children.
$2,900 a DAY?!?!? I'm not even fond of kids, never had any, but I get along well with the, say 9-17 year old group, like a nice auntie. For $2,900 a day I could QUIT my day job and be a caring auntie to a kid. WTF are they doing with that money? Nothing truly good, I would guess.
JFC. As a resident of central Oregon, I can attest that this is a state with very high needs for underprivileged kids. Education and income is low. Abuse is high. Dollars only go so far, it's outrageous to see such a huge chunk wasted.
My mom was an emergency foster parent for Westchester county, NY for many many years. I forget the exact # of kids who lived with us(myself, bio bro&sis) over the years... But ZOMFSM, even adjusting back to the dollars in those days, we would have been super rich in just one FUCKING MONTH with that kinda payout. It was not uncommon for us to have up to 4 or more other kids in the house.
If my mom was alive today, she would be puking her guts out if she read this.
“Look! Vulnerable children, let’s torture them more. Make their lives even more of a living nightmare.”
-Religious children’s programs.
From conversion therapy, to at risk youth camps, to just youth Sunday school, religious, especially Christian, groups have been completely abusive and predatory. There’s case after case of sexual and physical assault on the children, withholding basic human needs, emotional abuse, and victim blaming. And we have government agencies providing opportunities and cover for them left right and center.
These poor children! Starting off in a bad situation, taken away supposedly for their own protection only to be placed in a worse place where they’re not only blamed for their abuse, but denied basic human rights. What harm can a belief do?
Pierceton Woods Academy in Indiana, another one of those oh-so-conveniently remote "youth treatment centers" for troubled teens, operated by Lasting Change Inc. (a Christian nonprofit), has gotten away with sexually abusing its charges for years now. Well... abusing them in an 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 way, because the phrasing of the article sure makes it sound like conversion therapy is one of the services they offer (the facility is described as providing treatment for "𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴," and we all know what that second bit is code for even if they don't state it outright), so abuse was likely already the core of their business model.
Worse yet? Teens are being sent there, and to other religious organizations usurping the functions of DCS, run by the same damn group of Christian predators, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. At taxpayer expense. To the tune of 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 of millions of dollars.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦! Lasting Change Inc. boasts a list of high-profile donors and supporters, including former Vice President and Indiana Governor- and potato that's been left on the counter long enough to get fuzzy- Mike Pence.
So... yeah. Got a 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 candidate for a future main article, here- and possibly something to forward a few dozen emails to the FFRF and ACLU about.
It's a small thing in the grand scheme of the travesty, but I *despise* that "attack helicopter" joke that conservatives seem to love so much. Not only is it an unfunny "joke" meant to cruelly bully and kick down at transgender and gender-nonconfirming people (including children in this case), they have no idea what they're even *talking about.* The original work of fiction they're referencing is quite literally a story about the ways gender is weaponized by society to force people into roles that benefit no one but the rich and powerful; how people in that situation, with little to no ownership over their bodies or activities, find identity and security in the things that give them agency and confidence within that highly controlling system.
If you haven't read it, it's "I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter" written under the name Isabel Fall. It's a short story, but I *really* wish more people actually read the work instead of continuing to make the same stupid and ignorant "jokes" kicking down at people already constantly facing abuse just for who they are.
"Employees at licensed child-care agencies have training when it comes to not hurting kids if they’re acting out. Employees with this ministry don’t." Oh, but they have a great manual, the Old Testament that recommends techniques using rods and stones.
“The use of unlicensed and uncertified services for kids in care is a tragedy waiting to happen.” It's quite reasonable to assume that the tragedies have been happening for a long time.
"One of Dynamic Life’s employees charged with helping kids with their mental health says he’s 'Christ’s psychologist in training.'” Otherwise known as a QUACK.
Everything described here indicates that in whatever state agency is responsible for child wards is a pervasive culture that considers them nothing but an annoying nuisance, so they think that carelessly throwing money at the problem is all they have to do.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟?
Christian Fucking Privilege.
Yet Christians will continue to insist that adoptive/foster gay people make unfit parents and can't possibly provide loving, caring homes for kids.
It's become more than obvious who the unfit ones are.
What is it going to take? How many horror stories must be endured? How many times do we need to re-learn the lesson that religious organizations simply cannot be trusted to care for children. This is beyond inexcusable.
Ummm ... Oregon? I gots a word for you, a word that seems to be lacking in this whole Christian foster care thing, and it's something you should be employing and aren't:
𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧.
How about it, eh?
There are so many problems with this set up it's hard to figure out where to start. As a result, I'm going to pick one: unjustified privilege.
No other group or religion would be allowed to do this, never mind paid by the state for caring for kids in this manner. Despite how frequently we hear Christians scream about how persecuted they are as a group, this Dynamic Life is a Christian organization going completely without oversight specifically because 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. There is no other reason for this non profit to operate without oversight other than its Christian affiliation. Indeed, any other group without a Christian affiliation would be laughed out of the room for suggesting they might not need oversight, even if they had some other religious affiliation.
The worst part of this is that it's becoming very clear that Christian organizations aren't really doing this because it's the right thing to do: they're in it for the money and power. In the purest sense, Christian organizations that take in foster kids should be doing this at no charge to the government or anyone else, since that would be the loving care described in at least some of the words of Jesus. Brutal honesty here: there are plenty of large churches around that have the money to do this at little or no charge to the taxpayer, but they don't do that. Why? Because they can make money instead. I won't even try to pretend this doesn't make me angry as all h3ll. These kids have already, in most cases, been traumatized and mistreated, and now instead of the help they need, these churches want to make money off their suffering. Fury and disgust seem completely appropriate reactions on the matter.
The state is now saying it's investigating, which I suppose is something that's marginally better than nothing at all. Quite bluntly, though, what needs to happen nationwide is the end of Christian privilege in all its forms; that privilege is responsible for harm to the most vulnerable members of society on an entirely too frequent basis. 'Suffer the children' was not intended as a direction to hurt said children.
$2,900 a DAY?!?!? I'm not even fond of kids, never had any, but I get along well with the, say 9-17 year old group, like a nice auntie. For $2,900 a day I could QUIT my day job and be a caring auntie to a kid. WTF are they doing with that money? Nothing truly good, I would guess.
Hell of a grift they're running.
JFC. As a resident of central Oregon, I can attest that this is a state with very high needs for underprivileged kids. Education and income is low. Abuse is high. Dollars only go so far, it's outrageous to see such a huge chunk wasted.
My mom was an emergency foster parent for Westchester county, NY for many many years. I forget the exact # of kids who lived with us(myself, bio bro&sis) over the years... But ZOMFSM, even adjusting back to the dollars in those days, we would have been super rich in just one FUCKING MONTH with that kinda payout. It was not uncommon for us to have up to 4 or more other kids in the house.
If my mom was alive today, she would be puking her guts out if she read this.
WHAT A FUCKING GRIFT!
“Look! Vulnerable children, let’s torture them more. Make their lives even more of a living nightmare.”
-Religious children’s programs.
From conversion therapy, to at risk youth camps, to just youth Sunday school, religious, especially Christian, groups have been completely abusive and predatory. There’s case after case of sexual and physical assault on the children, withholding basic human needs, emotional abuse, and victim blaming. And we have government agencies providing opportunities and cover for them left right and center.
These poor children! Starting off in a bad situation, taken away supposedly for their own protection only to be placed in a worse place where they’re not only blamed for their abuse, but denied basic human rights. What harm can a belief do?
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 15-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳.”"
...when your entire worldview is fiction, yet you can't come up with any new jokes to save your life.
$2,916 a day = $1,064,340 a year! That could pay for a four star hotel with room service, and a private tutor. What the actual fuck, Oregon?
OT (barely)- Another Christian victim factory: https://www.propublica.org/article/indiana-pierceton-woods-academy-abuse-allegations-teens
Pierceton Woods Academy in Indiana, another one of those oh-so-conveniently remote "youth treatment centers" for troubled teens, operated by Lasting Change Inc. (a Christian nonprofit), has gotten away with sexually abusing its charges for years now. Well... abusing them in an 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 way, because the phrasing of the article sure makes it sound like conversion therapy is one of the services they offer (the facility is described as providing treatment for "𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴," and we all know what that second bit is code for even if they don't state it outright), so abuse was likely already the core of their business model.
Worse yet? Teens are being sent there, and to other religious organizations usurping the functions of DCS, run by the same damn group of Christian predators, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. At taxpayer expense. To the tune of 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 of millions of dollars.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦! Lasting Change Inc. boasts a list of high-profile donors and supporters, including former Vice President and Indiana Governor- and potato that's been left on the counter long enough to get fuzzy- Mike Pence.
So... yeah. Got a 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 candidate for a future main article, here- and possibly something to forward a few dozen emails to the FFRF and ACLU about.
It's a small thing in the grand scheme of the travesty, but I *despise* that "attack helicopter" joke that conservatives seem to love so much. Not only is it an unfunny "joke" meant to cruelly bully and kick down at transgender and gender-nonconfirming people (including children in this case), they have no idea what they're even *talking about.* The original work of fiction they're referencing is quite literally a story about the ways gender is weaponized by society to force people into roles that benefit no one but the rich and powerful; how people in that situation, with little to no ownership over their bodies or activities, find identity and security in the things that give them agency and confidence within that highly controlling system.
If you haven't read it, it's "I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter" written under the name Isabel Fall. It's a short story, but I *really* wish more people actually read the work instead of continuing to make the same stupid and ignorant "jokes" kicking down at people already constantly facing abuse just for who they are.
𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐇𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐡 '𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧'
Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-says-he-never-swore-oath-to-support-the-constitution/ar-AA1kFhDY
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡-𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑂𝑃 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦, ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑦 6 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 14𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 "𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑘" 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2024 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
"Employees at licensed child-care agencies have training when it comes to not hurting kids if they’re acting out. Employees with this ministry don’t." Oh, but they have a great manual, the Old Testament that recommends techniques using rods and stones.
“The use of unlicensed and uncertified services for kids in care is a tragedy waiting to happen.” It's quite reasonable to assume that the tragedies have been happening for a long time.
"One of Dynamic Life’s employees charged with helping kids with their mental health says he’s 'Christ’s psychologist in training.'” Otherwise known as a QUACK.
Everything described here indicates that in whatever state agency is responsible for child wards is a pervasive culture that considers them nothing but an annoying nuisance, so they think that carelessly throwing money at the problem is all they have to do.