Three Little Words- Ashley Rhodes-Courter

I loved this book so much, that I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day.

Ashley Rhodes-Courter was placed into foster care at the age of three, and her memoir documents the difficult life of foster youth everywhere. The endless placement changes (she had fourteen in about 7 years) the new schools, the sometimes brutal foster parents, and the never ending stream of social workers. Ashley ends up finding her forever family, but she also discusses how hard it was for her to really trust the people that eventually adopted her. We think of the adoption as a happy event for foster children, but it's important to realize that though they suffered at the hands of their birth parents, most children don't want to give up on them completely. Plus, after living in so many homes with no feeling of permanence, Ashley wasn't convinced that her adoptive family wouldn't send her back.

Ashley also relates how she ended up suing the foster parents who abused her, along with several other of their foster children. She also joined in a class action law suit against the State of Florida for their gross negligence of foster children. Though dependency cases are supposed to come up for review once every six months, her case was overlooked for more than 2 years.

Ashley was lucky enough to have a guardian ad litem, the Florida equivalent to a CASA. Though she didn't appreciate her at the time, she realizes now just how much her CASA did for her and how hard she pushed for Ashley to find a permanent home and correct the judicial oversights. The parts about the CASA made me tear up a little, I have to admit. I currently serve as a CASA volunteer, and it was amazing to see the difference one person can make on a child's life.

Ashley, now 22, has become a successful writer, college graduate, and speaks about her experiences all over the country. It was truly inspiring to see a foster child, the type of child that so often gets lost, become the person she is today.

I was going to say that I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in foster youth, but this really is a book I think everyone should read. The foster care system is broken, and though there are people who work tirelessly to fix it, more attention needs to be focused on this issue.

So, um, go buy it already.

P.S. You can check out Ashley's website here
And, if you're so inclined, you can learn more about the CASA program here