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thank you for sharing your story it is time that these agencies be accountable for the way they handle themselves

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thank you for sharing your story it is time that these agencies be accountable for the way they handle themselves

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I've been seriously considering becoming a foster parent, but this part of it scares me to no end. How many qualified, needed parents reconsider due to the false accusations a child can make and the chaos the families go through? This issue needs great attention.

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Hi I commend you and your husband for what you are doing. I must say I am a little surprised to actually have stumbled upon this website. I suppose you might wonder what Bellefaire was like back then. The winds of time have swept away many of the memories that I once had but to forget about Bellefaire completly is probably like trying to take the lion out of the jungle,I would suppose. We came from many different enviorments. Many of us were Jewish,many of us were not.Some of us came from wealthy homes.some came from poverty stricken homes,some of us just ended up there because of some act of fate. We all had one thing in common. Somehow for some reason we could not quite make it in the everyday world,for one reason or another. I fell into the group that was placed there by my parents because of emotional problems.Some of my friends were put there so that their parents could globetrot. We all usually would see a caseworker once a week or so and Bellefaire had a Big Brother,Big Sister program. That was nice. As you probably know we had 5 or 6 different cottages,seperated by age groups,and of course by genders.Life at Bellefaire was a strong scenario of daily survival or complete Heaven. One of the things that always has stuck out in my mind over the years,is how they would hire people to work in the cottages as counsolers or aids.This was always a challenge to us as we had nothing better to do than to aggrevate them to the point of complete and utter chaos.The cottage parents would bring us all into usually the downstairs living room and introduce us to the next(Warden)LOL.Within a couple of days,we would find a way to completly have them go home at night with second thoughts of returning! Usually the overall relationship would deterioate after that,which was fine with us. Letting them find our weak spots just was;nt an option.LOL I would have to tell you,the people that ran Bellefaire back then meant well.I'm sure they did most of the things they were supposed to do.I probably am a better person now because of the time that I did spend there.There are tons of things that I could speak about that went on there,but I wont.Not because they are morbid or horrific,just because alot of them are or were back then,everyday things that happen to the average family,but in our case,one big,big family.LOL I have not been back to visit the campus since probably 82' or 83'. I remember walking by the administration building up front.There was a small group of kids running by the building and they were making cat calls at us. At first I thought of yelling back at them,but I was seeing so much of myself in them so long ago that I just started to laugh! What you and people like you are doing is no easy task.The stress that you people endure has to be at times unbearble.I commend you. The thing that really bothers me is after 45 years, they obviously dont have their act together.That Hurts.For you kids that might be reading this Her's the deal"STRAIGHT UP" These people take you into their homes to give you a life that you probably could never have. Life is no joke. There is a lot more to it than Megadeth and BigMacs.You have been given a chance to become a worthwhile wholsome being."DONT BLOW IT". We are only here for a short while.Make the best of it! Common Guys give these people a cbance to help you find your way to happiness and respectability. I can understand what some of you are going through and I realize at times you guys want to lash out and attack from all angles. It does not work guys.How do I know? I was one of the dudes that wrote the book! Life can be so rewarding if you give it a chance. Again in closing,let me say that I commend you for what you are doing and hope that everything works out for your cause. Don,t give up whatever you do. God Bless You, Ill stop back someday.M.