It is hard to schedule all the activities with studying and sleeping time, but I can't relent. It has been an odyssey. In 1995, Madrid became eligible for foster care after becoming a ward of the L.A. County Department of Family and Children Services as an eighth grader when he was at Maclay Middle School in Pacoima. It hasn't always been a change for the better in licensed foster homes. Madrid said many of his foster parents abused the monthly stipend intended for Madrid's food, clothing and lodging.
People become foster parents for the wrong reasons.
There is tension and no sense of warmth. There is tons of frustration. There are moments when I feel real lonely and baseless. Most of my foster homes have been like a Motel 6, places where I just ate and slept. Places where I have never desired to stay long within their problem-infested walls.