Fall or fly : the strangely hopeful story of foster care and adoption in Appalachia / Wendy Welch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Welch, Wendy, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Adoption--Appalachian Region.

Adoption.

Foster home care--Appalachian Region.

Foster home care.

Social work with children--Appalachian Region.

Social work with children.

Appalachian Region.

Physical Description:

185 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, [2018]

Summary:

"Chaos. Frustration. Compassion. Desperation. Hope. These are the five words that author Wendy Welch says best summarize the state of foster care in the coalfields of Appalachia. Her assessment is based on interviews with more than sixty social workers, parents, and children who have gone through "the system." The riveting stories in Fall or Fly tell what foster care is like, from the inside out. In depictions of foster care and adoption, stories tend to cluster at the dark or light ends of the spectrum, rather than telling the day-to-day successes and failures of families working to create themselves. Who raises other people's children? Why? What's money got to do with it when the love on offer feels so real? And how does the particular setting of Appalachia--itself so frequently oversimplified or stereotyped--influence the way these questions play out? In Fall or Fly, Welch invites people bound by a code of silence to open up and to share their experiences. Less inspiration than a call to caring awareness, this pioneering work of storytelling journalism explores how love, compassion, money, and fear intermingle in what can only be described as a marketplace for our nation's greatest asset"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Looking for Love-and Babies 12

2 A Different Kind of Love Than I Wanted 21

3 Through the Eyes of a Child 30

4 Two Reboot Camps 47

5 Doing Good, Well 59

6 For Love or Money 70

7 What's Love Got to Do with It? 88

8 Love, Understanding, and Fecal Matter 98

9 Aging Out 115

10 Cursed Be the Ties That Bind 131

11 The Day Barbie Became a Social Worker 139

12 The Day Beth Stopped Being a Social Worker 148

13 Why People Don't Foster, and Why They Do 156

14 Look for the Sunshine, not the Rain Clouds 166

15 Finale 171.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780821423011

0821423010

9780821423028

0821423029

OCLC:

982091350