Former foster parent explains why she left the CYFD system
For Serena Talamantes, family is everything.
She is a mother to seven children, two of them from international adoption and four from foster care.
In her home hangs a painting, one that reminds her of the past.
Past connection that never ended with a full connection, because she chose to step away from CYFD. Why? She says it was because of poor decisions made for a group of children that they loved.
"There's a lot of kids that stick with me, but one of the reasons that we stepped away when we did was because of poor decisions made for a sibling group that we loved. That we absolutely loved," said Talamantes.
Another reason her family stopped was because of frustrations with CYFD and what she says were decisions the agency made.
"It's the lack of support. It's the change that's not happening. It's the kids that are coming in and out of the system like a revolving door. And you're watching these kids and you're watching as they lose hope for their future," she said.
The final straw were the poor decisions made for the previously mentioned sibling group. She says CYFD placed them all together in an abusive setting.
Talamantes says she hasn't heard about the sibling group, other than they were still in care.