13. Heritage of Words (Childran Who Waits)

 

The Children Who Wait

Marsha Traugot

In “The Children Who Wait”, Marsha Traugot suggests reasons for a new trend in adoption. Now a wider variety of families can open their homes to children who in the past would have been labeled unadoptable. In setting forth the causes for this phenomenon, she draws from specific case history. In the past only healthy white infants could be adopted. But now a five and a-half-year old black child suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome has been legally freed for adoption. She is Tammy. Her smile is as mysterious as that of Mona Lisa and she is as attractive as a kitchen. Her social worker is looking for a one or two parent, black or biracial family with older siblings. The family will have to visit Tammy for a long time to ease her change from foster home to permanent home. Since Tammy’s intellectual growth might stop at any time, the family should ignore this aspect. In the past a nonwhite family with older siblings, a single parent family and handicapped children were not talked about when adoptions were concerned.

But now there has been a great change in the field of adoption. There are many factors behind this change: the various civil rights movements, birth control, changing social values, social science research and harsh economic reality. Because of the black civil rights movements, even the black children have been equally respected. Due to birth control, legalized abortion, and changing attitudes towards sexual behavior and marriage, few healthy infants were available for adoption. Fewer unwanted babies were born and even the unwed mothers could keep their babies with them without insult. The modern society would not say anything against such mothers. Healthy babies were not available for adoption. Because of the scarcity of healthy babies, people turned their attention to other children.

The number of other homeless children was increasing. Between 1960 and 1978 the number of children in the foster home reached half a million. The state did not know how many such children were there, whether they could be adopted and how many of them lived with their biological parent. If such children were left in the foster home for more than 18 months, they would remain here until they became mature. When they lied here for long, he would suffer from many problems pseudo mental retardation, learning disabilities, mental illness, criminality and abnormal behavior. There problems would make their lives and even their children’s lives more troublesome. So the foster home would make their live worse instead of making them better.

Because children don’t vote, the politicians don’t invest money to begin any new programs for such children. The child welfare specialists told the politicians that the cost of keeping an average child in foster care was $3,600 and it could be as high $24,000. Then it became clear that the foster home was expensive and cruel, and the system changed. The conception of ideal adoptive family changed because the traditional family has nearly disappeared and the same type of family is not suitable characteristics of the child. Now the social worker writes down the characteristics of the child and the profile of a suitable family and them he tries to match. For example, for a fifteen-year-old boy who is bad at school and who keeps on fighting a strong male, who allows him reasonable freedom and who sets some limits, could be a good parent, defect and a hearing disability, a deeply religious, working class family with older children would be most suitable. If the medical costs weaken the family budget, the state might help such families.

Moreover, the social worker also should change his attitudes. He must accept that even the handicapped child is adoptable and that the single male and the working class family can equally adopt a child. For this specialists have introduced values-classification workshops for social workers and their supervisors. To find the possible adoptive parents, first, the workers look to their lists. Then, they give detailed information about meetings. They also organize parties for children, workers and possible parents to meet informally. If they still can’t make a match, they advertise on TV. They also publish the child’s profiles in newspapers. Now Tammy hopes to get a warm family who would support her permanently.

 

The Children Who Wait

Writer : Marsha Taugot

 

SUMMARY

         Marsha Traugot wrote the essay “The Children who wait”, in the prevalent trend of child adoption in few decade in American context. Marsha Traugot suggests reasons for a new trend in adoption. Now a wider variety of Families can open their homes to children who in the past would have been leveled unadoptable. In setting forth the causes for this phenomenon, Traugot draws from specific case histories.

The writer begins her essay with an example of a 5¹/₂ years old black homeless girl named Tammy who is suffering from fatal alcohol syndrome which can stop her intellectual growth at any time. By this, Traugot wants to prove that she is not dealing with fiction but a specific case study. In the past, especially before 1960, the black, disabled, handicapped and sick children were unadoptable. Tammy has recently been legally freed for adoption which shows the changes that have taken place in the American adoption scene. Before 1960, only healthy white infants could be adopted. But now, the American adoption scene has been completely changed due to different civil rights movements, birth control, changing social values and social science research. Because of civil rights movements, the attitudes of American people towards Negro children changed. Due to birth control and legalized abortion, fewer unwanted babies were born. Even the unmarried women could keep their babies with them because of the changing social values. As a result, healthy babies were hardly available for adoption and people turned their attention to other children like Tammy.

Due of massive growth of population, the number of homeless children is in the increasing trend. Between 1960 and 1978, the number of children in the foster home reached nearly half a million. Many states have no idea about the number of children who lived with their biological parents, who lived in foster homes and those children who could be adopted. If such children were left in the foster homes more than 18 months, they would suffer from different kinds of illnesses and social crimes. It would make their life more troublesome, complicated and worse. The politicians also wouldn’t invest any fund to begin new programs for such children as the children have no rights to vote. So, the homeless children were neglected and uncared. According to the child care specialists, the cost of keeping an average child in foster home was. $3,600 to $24,000. This shows that the foster home was expensive and cruel. The writer suggests that the social workers should change their attitudes. They should accept even disabled children for adoption. They should open child care centers and hold meetings.

Now, the social workers write down the characteristics of the child and the profile of a suitable family, and then they try to match. To find the possible adoptive parents, the social workers first look to their lists. They give detailed information about the children to the regional exchange offices. They organize meetings and parties for children and possible parents to meet informally. If they still can’t find adopters by personal contact, they advertise on T.V. and publish the child’s profile in the newspapers. Thus, the child welfare specialists and the social workers can do a lot for the children who wait for adoption.

The Children Who Wait

Marsha Traugot’s essay “The children Who Wait” discusses the scene of adoption in American context. Marsha Traugot begins her essay with the picture of Tammy, which has been published in a magazine with the hope that someone would be ready to adopt her. She is five and half years old with the face of Mona Lisa. The writer describes her unadaptable child had she been born before 1960. During that period only white healthy children were considered adaptable. Physically deformed children’s were referred as damaged goods. No one was ready to adopt such children. The children who were black, mixed racial group, handicapped and over five years were not adopted by families. 

 

This view, however, started disappearing after the sixties. People’s attitude towards them gradually became positive. The change in thoughts was brought by various factors. Traugot mentions black civil right movement, legalization of abortion, change in attitude of the people, and change in government’s policy as responsible factors. Black civil rights movement brought sympathetic attitude towards black people. White people started regarding them as humans and treated accordingly. Another responsible factor was women’s movement. 

 

Because of women’s movement they got right to decide on the matter of childbirth in addition to other right. The lady who had to do abortion to maintain her status could live with dignity with her child. It has the impact in reduction of unwanted children. The third factor responsible for change in attitude was government’s policy towards adoption. The government used to emphasize on foster care before the seventies. As they became aware about the drawbacks of foster care, they made changes in their policy. Rater than emphasizing on foster care, they tried to find permanent home for the homeless children. Another factor responsible is the role played by social activists. Their campaign brought changes not only in attitude of the people but also in their behavior. 

Prior to the 1960, the social activists considered white, two parent, and middle or upper class childless family as an ideal adoptive family. But now the situation has changed. The social workers give children for adoption to even single or two parents, black or biracial, upper class or working class, childless or families with older siblings. The catch phrase of the social worker is ‘matching’. Activists try to get proper family for destitute child. Unlike previous activists, they can’t get two-parent family. Instead of searching for two-parent family, they need to evaluate the characteristic of a child and match it with the proper family. Now adoption agencies collect the lists of parents who want to adopt child. 

 

They match qualities of children with the need of parents, let both of them meet and interact. They even hold meetings and discuss about the children and the types of families where they can put them. Now adoption agencies collect the lists of parents who want to adopt child. They match qualities of children with the need of parents, let both of them meet and interact. If this system does not work, they publish the profile of homeless children in television or newspaper to look for adoptive parents.

 

The Children Who Wait

Marsha Traugot

Marsha Traugot’s essay “The Children Who Wait” discusses the scene of adoption in the American context. Marsha Traugot begins her essay with the picture of Tammy, which has been published in a magazine with the hope that someone would be ready to adopt her. She is five and a half years old with the face of Mona Lisa. The writer describes her unadaptable child had she been born before 1960. During that period only white healthy children were considered adaptable. Physically deformed children’s were referred to as damaged goods. No one was ready to adopt such children. The children who were black, mixed racial group, handicapped and over five years were not adopted by families. This view, however, started disappearing after the sixties.

People’s attitude towards them gradually became positive. The change in thoughts was brought by various factors. Traugot mentions black civil right movement, legalization of abortion, change in the attitude of the people and change in government’s policy as responsible factors. Black civil rights movement brought a sympathetic attitude towards black people. White people started regarding them as humans and treated accordingly. Another responsible factor was the women’s movement. Because of women’s movement, they got the right to decide on the matter of childbirth in addition to other rights.

The lady who had to do an abortion to maintain her status could live with dignity with her child. It has an impact on the reduction of unwanted children. The third factor responsible for the change in attitude was the government’s policy towards adoption. The government used to emphasize on foster care before the seventies. As they became aware of the drawbacks of foster care, they made changes in their policy. Rather than emphasizing on foster care, they tried to find a permanent home for homeless children. Another factor responsible is the role played by social activists.

Their campaign brought changes not only in the attitude of the people but also in their behavior. Prior to 1960, the social activists considered white, two-parent, and middle or upper-class childless family as an ideal adoptive family. But now the situation has changed. The social workers give children for adoption to even single or two parents, black or biracial, upper class or working class, childless or families with older siblings. The catchphrase of the social worker is ‘matching’. Activists try to get a proper family for the destitute child. Unlike previous activists, they can’t get a two-parent family. Instead of searching for a two-parent family, they need to evaluate the characteristic of a child and match it with the proper family. Now adoption agencies collect the lists of parents who want to adopt a child.

They match qualities of children with the need of parents, let both of them meet and interact. They even hold meetings and discussions about the children and the types of families where they can put them. Now adoption agencies collect the lists of parents who want to adopt a child. They match qualities of children with the need of parents, let both of them meet and interact. If this system does not work, they publish the profile of homeless children in television or newspaper to look for adoptive parents.

The Children Who Wait by Marsha Traugot

The Children Who Wait is an essay by Marsh Traugot. Marsha is a social reformer and she describes the condition of the foster house in the USA. She also suggests reasons for a new trend in adoption in America. Now a wider verity of families can open their house to children who in the past had been labeled unadoptable.

The essay begins with an example of five and a half years old, black, handicapped girl, Tammy. She is suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. Twenty years ago or until about 1960 the process of adoption was strict. A baby like Tammy was unadoptable and she was treated as waste material. But since the 1970s, she has also a market. She could be adopted. That is why a great departure in the field of adoption was seen in the 70s of the last century.



The field of adoption became very easy because of new technique, various civil rights movement, birth control, changing social values, legalized abortion and changes in views on sexual behaviour and marriage. Black civil right movement encouraged inter-racial adoption. The unwed mothers increased the number of adoptive infants. All these factors were responsible for the drastic change in the field of adoption. Due to lack of baby food, some interested families could not adopt children. As well as that, the black marketing of doctors also created scarcity of adoptable children. The attention inevitably shifted towards the children at foster houses.



Child welfare specialists were very worried about the growing children in foster houses. Earlier research had shown that children once sent to foster care for more than 18 months remain there until they grew up. This long stay led to dreadful results: children used to be the victims of mental and physical perversion. Of course, they could spoil their childhood, and their adult lives could be disturbed as well.



Funding was needed to improve the system but funding for children services had always been scarce because they did not cast their votes. The cost of keeping a child in foster house could run very high.



The conception of ideal adoptive family changed because the traditional family type has almost disappeared. A social worker makes the list of characteristics and looks for a good match. But for this, the social worker must change his attitude. He should believe firmly that even a disturbed or multiple handicapped child is adoptable. The worker should be flexible in his attitude towards a family of different socio-economic group. The specialists have started values clarification workshops for placements. Workers and their supervisors must be trained.



Adoption agencies find a potential family step-by-step. The process of matching is taken very seriously. The adoption agencies keep the list of families living in their periphery. Efforts are made to find a home from among the listed families, but if it fails then the adoption agencies refer the child to the State Adoption Exchange which gives information about the concerned child to other agencies. Monthly meetings and informal meetings are held for matching families. If they cannot find a matching family through any of the means they apply, the child welfare organisation and adoption exchange advertise through media, TV and the newspaper.



For example – Tammy is on search for an adoptive family. Because of the changes in attitudes in different aspects as well as in the field of adoption many children have got the supportive families and writer also hopes that Tammy will also get a warm supportive family life in the near future.

 

Important Questions And Answers:

 

According to Traugot, what changes are transforming the American adoption scene? What factors are responsible for the changes?



Traugot wrote this essay in the 1970s. This decade saw transformation in the adoption of children, especially the possibility of integrating those from black, minority and mixed racial background into a wide variety of homes that became possible because of the disappearance of the traditional middle-class, home-owning, two-parent, one-career families in America.



Until the 70s, only the upper class white childless couples adopted healthy white infants, but they did not adopt handicapped, black or mixed/minority, and older children. However, the late 70s marked a heartening change in the children adoption scene. The factors that contributed primarily for this transformation were the various civil rights movements, birth control, changing social values, harsh economic reality and research in social science.



Who are the children who wait and why do they wait?



The children who wait are children waiting in foster homes to find ideal prospective parents. They are mostly homeless children who come predominantly from black, mixed or minority background. Some of them could be orphans and some others could be living in foster homes because of familial problems, away from their biological parent(s). Whatever their background, these children are waiting for adoptive parents who could give them lot of love, affection, security and support. Traugot’s introduction of Tammy in the first paragraph draws the thesis of the essay, and readers instantly realize the possibility of Tammy’s adoption into a permanent home should a family with a kind heart appear to take her their home. She has been legally freed for adoption, so her profile has been advertised in a newspaper. Tammy is a representative of homeless and parentless children who come from diverse cultural background, have handicaps, have varying temperament and personalities.



Describe the procedure of finding prospective adoptive parents/Why is Tammy advertised in the Boston Globe?



The Children Who Wait by Marsha Traugot discusses the adoption system and problems in child adoption in America in the twentieth century. In this essay there are various stakeholders: the children waiting for adoption, the families to adopt them, the agencies to look after and help find children suitable adoptive family.



The first step is at the adoption agency. An adoption agency in one particular location has a list of families who wish to adopt children. If any one of the families wants to have a child than they could have it, but if it doesn’t materialize, the next step is at the regional or state adoption exchange, where the unadopted child is registered. The exchange distributes the photo and description of the child to all other agencies. Some of these exchanges hold monthly meetings where placement workers discuss children or families, and they also sponsor parties where children, workers and prospective parents meet informally. If the exchange also doesn’t succeed in finding a permanent home for a child, then it along with other child welfare organizations go for aggressive media advertisement where the profiles of the waiting child is either printed in newspapers like the Boston Globe or a video shown on TV. It is hoped that the waiting child can eventually get a caring and loving family.



Describe Tammy and her problems.



Tammy is a five and half-year old child who has the smile of Mona Lisa and the cuteness of a kitten. She is petite (very small) with brown eyes, and has dark, curly hair. Her complexion is light brown. However, behind this outward veneer is a girl who is suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, and whose intellectual growth could stop at any time. Also, she is a lot older for adoption and not a white child – she is black. She has passed through the procedures set by the adoption agency and the regional or state exchange but has found no compassionate family to take her. That is why her profile has been advertised in the “Sunday Child” section of the Boston Globe for the potential family, who could adopt and give her warmth, love and support.



Comment on the influence of the Black Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement in helping reform the adoption practices in America.



The Black Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement had far-reaching and transformative effect on the adoption practices in America. The first movement helped in making America a more integrated and discrimination-free society. It helped to change the formerly vindictive attitude of the Whites against the Afro-Americans. In the changed American society, the liberal whites gathered the black and mixed-race infants and toddlers into their families. As well as that, the Blacks started to enjoy the riches of justice and decency.



The second movement, i.e. the Women’s Movement, gave women the reproductive rights. There was the easy availability of birth control methods to them. Also, abortion was legalized. There was also a changed attitude toward sexual behaviour and marriage. Women didn’t have to get married to have sex. Even unwed mothers faced less societal stigma: they reared their child and were supported by their family members. Women’s rights advocates pointed out that a mature single woman could care for a child as well as two-parents could. All these changes reduced the birth of unwanted babies, and thereby children who could find a passage to foster homes. Thus, the two movements had a positive impact on adoption.



What is “fetal alcohol syndrome”? What is a “buzz word”?



Fetal alcohol syndrome refers to a condition in new-born babies caused by excessive intake of alcohol by the mother during pregnancy: characterized by various defects including mental retardation.



Buzz word refers to a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture, etc. The buzz word in the adoption scene in the 1970s was matching.



What is “matching” and how is it done? Provide examples of matching in the text.



Matching here refers to bringing two objects, ideas, or people together. Matching was a buzz word used in the American adoption practices in the 1970s. The social workers who worked at finding suitable adoptive parents for the homeless and parentless children living in foster homes first assessed the child’s characteristics, which involved getting information about the child’s personality, cultural background, existing relationship with biological or foster family, and emotional state. Based on these factors, the worker would draw up a profile of an appropriate family.



The first example that Traugot cites is of a 15-year old boy who had a bad history of

disrupted placements, did badly in academics and fought a lot. The appropriate family for this boy is a single male family, who could give him the latitude to be free but also circumscribe him when need be. Similarly, an 11-year old boy with Down’s Syndrome, a weak heart and hearing disability could be accepted by a deeply religious, working class family having older children. The child welfare specialists were really very optimistic and hopeful of the children finding permanent homes for these kinds of almost unadoptable children.

 

Source :

https://tyrocity.com/topic/the-children-who-wait-heritage-of-words/

https://www.merospark.com/content/34/the-children-who-wait/

https://neb.promod.com.np/2016/06/the-children-who-wait-marsha-traugot.html

https://www.esikai.com.np/2017/06/the-children-who-wait-marsha-traugot.html