Homeless woman on job interview arrested for leaving kids in car (cost, school)
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The children are 6 and 24 months old. They were left for 45 minutes.
Is it really in the best interests of the children to leave them with their mother?
Yes, of course it is.
Instead of being arrested, this woman should have had a social worker or someone in that capacity help her find temporary housing, or helped her in some way.
This woman didn't leave her children in the car so she could go do drugs or prostitute herself, Jesus!
Legitimate question: What was she supposed to do? Where was she supposed to take those kids? She doesn't have a home...I imagine she lives in that car? Do we know that? Where does she stay at night? In the car? In a shelter? Is there no place for someone to take their kids while they go for interviews?
I'm not being snarky, I really want to know.
What was she supposed to do, if she doesn't have a home, doesn't have any fricken money?
The good news is, an online fund has raised over $22,000 for her, so while it's not a whole lot, she's getting some help, and hopefully that help will continue.
THAT is charity.
None of us know the back story, here.
How long has she been homeless? What are the circumstances that resulted in being homeless? Where is the bio dad? How did she intend to be employed if she has no one to watch these kids while she interviewed? What is the source of their food, diapers? Is she on a wait list for housing?
Last edited by middle-aged mom; 03-28-2014 at 12:04 PM..
i guess i was raised in a different era [and in a small town], but i distinctly recall being left in the car with my sister many times as a kid while mom did whatever, and no one thought a thing of it.
I distinctly remember being left in the car with my sister in a parking lot for what was probably 20-30 minutes, and watching the temperature climb to exactly 100 degrees on the bank clock about 100 yards away. We rolled down the windows, were hot, but didn't really think much of it. The small town we were in at the time was Fairfax, VA. I was 7 at the time, so that would be mid 1970s.
How long has she been homeless? What are the circumstances that resulted in being homeless? Where is the bio dad? How did she intend to be employed if she has no one to watch these kids while she interviews? What is the source of their food, diapers? Is she on a wait list for housing?
Exactly...pretty crappy reporting if you ask me. Why weren't those questions asked?
Regardless, she went in for an interview, she's trying to find work, she's trying to do the right thing, she's got two little kids with her, allegedly doesn't have any other place to take them, leaves them in the car, and 45 minutes later, she's arrested for child abuse.
Hence why I asked, "what was she supposed to do?" And again, that is not a question with attitude, I genuinely want to know, "What is someone in her position to do?" Where does she take those kids so that she can go to an interview?
There's too many unanswered questions here, and that photo is going to pull at heart strings, but it doesn't answer the questions that should have been asked. How are you going to help people in these situations if you don't have the full story?
How long has she been homeless? What are the circumstances that resulted in being homeless? Where is the bio dad? How did she intend to be employed if she has no one to watch these kids while she interviewed? What is the source of their food, diapers? Is she on a wait list for housing?
What the hell difference does it make what the back-story is?
Would you feel differently if you knew the answers to your questions?
You had already condemned her by agreeing that her children should not be returned to her; don't try to wriggle out of it now.
i guess i was raised in a different era [and in a small town], but i distinctly recall being left in the car with my sister many times as a kid while mom did whatever, and no one thought a thing of it.
Heck, I left my own kids in the car more than once. Would I today? Heck no, but only because someone might take them away from me. Actually I don't have any kids at home, in fact I have ggrandkids, but the fact remains we did leave our kids in the car and my parents left us in the car from time to time. As long as we are talking about a few minutes, not much longer and windows are rolled down. No, I don't mean when the temps are 100 degrees or freezing cold, but on a mild day. Of course in this case the kids were pretty young, but they would less likely to get into trouble because they were so young.
I'll take dysfunctional Mother over dysfunctional foster home 9 times out of 10. This is certainly one of them.
I just thought I would say this to your comment; I do agree with you, but do you have any idea how many foster homes are loving and caring? I do, we were one of those foster homes for years and we were not dysfunctional in any way. We knew others that were caring and giving as well.
In the context of the story it appears that those who called the authorities probably did the right thing. Every year we have examples of young kids dying in locked cars. They had no idea how long she had been gone or when she would be back.
That said the reaction out of authorities today seem to resolve around one solution and one solution only. Throw them in jail. Nothing is gained by putting her in jail. Maybe she made a poor decision but she never intended anyone any harm.
Take her and the kids to a homeless shelter. Have someone tell her about the problems with what she did.
A babysitter would be cheaper than feeding her in prison.
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