美国国家公共电台 NPR After 20 Years, Young Man Leaves Foster Care On His Own Terms

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: 

When Noel Anaya was just a year old, he and his siblings¹ were placed in the California foster care system. He has spent his life in foster care. He just turned 21, and in California, that's the age when young people exit the system and lose its support. It's made official at a court hearing. Anaya, along with Youth Radio, got rare permission to record the proceedings².

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BEN EBERT: Are you guys ready? Or do you need more time?

NOEL ANAYA: We're ready.

EBERT: You're ready? OK.

ANAYA: We're ready. It's...

EBERT: Come on in.

ANAYA: Let's rock and roll.

MCEVERS: In court, Anaya read a letter he wrote about his experience in the foster care system. Here's his story.

ANAYA: Walking into court for my very last time as a foster youth, I feel like I'm getting a divorce from a system that I've been in a relationship with almost my entire life. It's bittersweet because I'm losing guaranteed money for food and housing as well as access to my social workers and lawyer.

But on the other hand, I'm relieved to finally get away from a system that ultimately failed me on its biggest promise - that one day it would find me a family who would love me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHAWNA SCHWARZ: Good afternoon. Let's go on the record. This is line six, the matter of Noel Anaya.

ANAYA: Noel.

SCHWARZ: Noel Anaya. Thank you.

ANAYA: You guys have been saying it wrong for 21 years.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHWARZ: You know what, everybody pronounces it differently.

ANAYA: Forgiven.

SCHWARZ: So thank you, though. I'm glad to know it's Noel.

ANAYA: Little things, like when my judge, Shawna Schwarz, mispronounces my name, serve as a constant reminder³ that, hey, I'm just a number. I often come away feeling powerless and anonymous⁴ in the foster care system.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHWARZ: Well, I'm reviewing my notes, and it looks like the first time I got involved in your case was back in 2003. You've been in the system a long time.

ANAYA: I don't have any pictures of my five siblings and me together as babies - not a single one, which makes Throwback Thursdays a little challenging. My biological parents weren't ready to be parents. My father was abusive. Eventually, Child Protective Services got involved, and my siblings and I went into the foster care system.

We were separated and shuffled⁵ between foster homes, group homes and shelters and, for at least one of my siblings, incarceration⁶. That's why it was really important to me to make a statement in court, going on the record about how the foster care system failed my siblings and me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHWARZ: I have to say. You have been pretty much one of our more successful young adults. Is there any advice you'd give us?

ANAYA: To whom it may concern, this is the year that I divorce you. Your gray hands can no longer hurt me. Your gray hands can no longer overpower me. Your gray hands can never tell me that you love me because it's too late.

I use gray hands to describe the foster care system because it never felt warm or human. It's institutional, opposite the sort of unconditional⁷ love I imagine that parents try to show their kids.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANAYA: Your gray hands just taught me how to survive in a world. We never learned how to love ourselves unconditionally⁸. I've been with multiple foster families. I've been with multiple shelters. How does a person like me not end up with a family?

In an ideal world, being a foster kid is supposed to be temporary. When it's stable and appropriate, the preference is to reunite kids with their parents or family members. Adoption⁹ is the next best option. I used to dream of it - having a mom, a dad, siblings to play with, a dog. But when I hit 12, I realized that I was getting old, that adoption would probably never happen for me.

In the system, I constantly had new social workers, lawyers and case managers, which left me vulnerable. It wasn't until I got older that I realized one of the main causes for the turnover¹⁰ was because of low wages and overflowing¹¹ caseloads. My own lawyer says he's currently juggling¹² 130 other clients.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANAYA: At 21, you happily kick us off to the curb¹³ and say, good luck. I wish you well. I wish you the best, but you can't come back because we can't take you in. I've seen too many of my people give up on the educational system.

I had hoped to finish college by the time I aged¹⁴ out of foster care, but I'm still in my junior year. I'm committed to getting my bachelor's, despite the odds¹⁵ being terrible.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANAYA: I hope that you hear my words, and I hope that you listen to my signal of distress¹⁶. I thank you for giving me closure. Thank you.

SCHWARZ: All right, well, thank you very much for being willing to share your feelings and your beliefs with us. So you know, I know you have some - sounds like some mixed feelings about the foster care system, but, Noel, I have no doubt that you are going to be successful in whatever you choose to do. Well, let me say the magic words. I will adopt the findings and the orders on the...

ANAYA: As the judge reads her final orders closing out my case, I promise myself that I'll leave all the rage I feel about the foster care system inside the courtroom, that I won't carry that hate and frustration¹⁷ with me for the rest of my life.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHWARZ: ...That the dependency case will be dismissed. There will be no further reviews. All right, thanks. Let's go off the record.

ANAYA: There's one more thing I need before I leave the courtroom - for the judge to bring the gavel down on this chapter of my life.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANAYA: Is that it? No hammer? Or no...

SCHWARZ: Yeah. You want me to do the gavel?

ANAYA: One time, please.

SCHWARZ: All right, I'll do the gavel. Hold on.

ANAYA: All right.

SCHWARZ: You know, we never do that in real life.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's not real life, no.

(SOUNDBITE OF GAVEL STRIKE)

ANAYA: I felt goosebumps when the gavel slapped down on my judge's desk, happy because I'm no longer cared for by a system that was never that good at actually caring for me. And I'm anxious, too, about what my life might be like next.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHWARZ: Take care.

ANAYA: You, too. I'm glad I was able to come.

SCHWARZ: All right, you, too.

ANAYA: For NPR News, I'm Noel Anaya.

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY SONG, "OUR LAST DAYS AS CHILDREN")

MCEVERS: That story was produced by Youth Radio.

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY SONG, "OUR LAST DAYS AS CHILDREN")

1 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

2 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

5 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

7 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

8 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

9 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

10 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

11 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

12 juggling   

n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was charged with some dishonest juggling with the accounts. 他被指控用欺骗手段窜改账目。
• The accountant went to prison for juggling his firm's accounts. 会计因涂改公司的帐目而入狱。

13 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

14 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

16 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

17 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。