Ron.....It's pretty well accepted that several things occur when a child is removed from the home. As soon as you place them in foster care, you do damage. Now this may well be for the best interests of the child. ie., protection from abuse. Many agencies (ours here) designates a home or two as "emergency" placement homes. These homes are generally as open and cooperative as possible in aiding the child(ren) through a critical period, but they are temporary emergency homes only. For longer term, out of home care, another suitable home is found and as I said in my previous post, the first place to look is at Relative Care. If that is not possible then a home that can keep the child's sense of self is next on the list. You really don't want to move a child at all if possible, but in the emergency situations, it's a better option so the right placement can be found.

BTW, this is a huge issue in adoption! Cross-racial and cross-cultural adoptions are one of the forefront issues that even the most ardent adoptive advocates still fight about.

Spaw