A note from Maureen: Charles Carr, a local poet who directed various levels of foster care programs in Lancaster and in Philadelphia, reads his poem "Treatment," which uses the bureaucratic language of the foster care system to reveal hard truths.
"Treatment"
By Charles Carr
Prepositions for relationships with the world
After the complaint of neglect
Legal action against was filed,
Under the custody of
Between the State versus
Along with the other throwaways
Among the caseloads, control groups,
beside some placebos.
At 12 he became a foster child.
Near the time they discovered new words
to describe what was wrong with him.
Under the clinical shelter he lived with his
“Multiple dimensional problem behaviors”
Formulated
forced to discover his dislocation in a new location
Therapeutic treatment foster home
with treatment parents, therapeutic brother and sister
Not a new mom and dad
He became an It- ward of the State/diagnosis/Axis II coded mental health/disorder
Treatment plan/ IEP/ visitation schedule/counseling sessions
Case notes/progress reports/room and board/ unit cost/an outcome
Off to the clinical saviors
with their cocktails of drugs-stimulants/mood stabilizers/anti-depressants
Feedback loops, checklists,
Tokens awarded for better coping skills
toward a Prognosis:
Tends to avoid/ confiding in/ others for fear/ of betrayal/
expects things/ he says or does/ will be used /against him
tends to feel/ like an outcast or outsider /feels as if/ he does not/
truly belong/incapable of sustaining/ meaningful love relationship/
characterized by /genuine intimacy/ caring/ lacks/ the capacity to/ recognize
alternative viewpoints/ even in matters /that stir up/ strong
feelings/not able to find meaning/ and satisfaction/ in the pursuit of /
long-term/goals and ambitions/ is simultaneously needy of/and
rejecting toward/ others/ craves intimacy and caring/ but
tends to reject/ it/ when offered/is unable to form/ close and lasting
friendships/ characterized by/mutual support/sharing of
experiences.
Aged out on a bench
across from the Rodin Museum
rearranging bundles of trash bags
in a shopping cart
strokes the handle like a pet.
Living Independent.