Reflections on Gabriel

It's been a busy two weeks. I like busy -- but I don't like mean people. Saw both in past two weeks. Worked with a Salem Statesman Journal editorial writer on the following.
It says what I feel.

Statesman Journal editorial

Thousands of foster children still need homes
Case of Gabriel Allred seems to end auspiciously
December 16, 2007
How fortunate for Gabriel Allred to have two families that wanted to bring him up and love him.
Now if only some of that luck will rub off on the thousands of Oregon foster kids like Gabriel -- many of whom would be thrilled to have even one family who wants them.
Things seem to have worked out for Gabriel, the 2-year-old who has lived with foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt since he was 4 months old.
His Mexican grandmother, Cecilia Martinez, withdrew her adoption request, leaving the Brandts free to adopt Gabriel. He will learn Spanish and Martinez can write and visit him.
We hope this arrangement, the result of a difficult mediation, will prove to be in Gabriel's best interests. From now on, that should be the business of Gabriel and his adoptive parents-to-be.
As for the rest of us, the best thing that could happen in the wake of this case would be for more Oregonians to ask after children like Gabriel. On any given day, the state is seeking homes for about 5,000 to 7,000 of them.
These kids have compelling stories, too, if only we knew them. Most would tug at a grownup's heartstrings just as strongly as those photos of wide-eyed Gabriel Allred.
Most, like Gabriel, land in protective custody because their parents have abused drugs and broken the law. Many come from multicultural backgrounds and some, like Gabriel, can claim citizenship in two countries.
While Gabriel's fate was being played out in public, the Oregon Department of Human Services was placing about three kids a day in permanent adoptions -- about 1,000 kids a year.
But at the same time, every 10 minutes, DHS phones have been ringing with reports of possible child abuse. Those numbers are hard to get ahead of.
Some of those kids wind up being taken from homes, sometimes in crisis in the middle of the night. Despite all the efforts of local churches and civic organizations to recruit foster families, there never seem to be enough homes -- especially permanent ones -- for children who need them.
Catholic Community Services has come forward with an innovative approach called Forever Homes, where foster children stay put, but adult staff come and go. This gives some sense of neighborhood and school ties to kids who have bounced around the foster-care system.
But nothing substitutes for adults who are willing to commit to kids for the long term.
Foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt decided to make the leap to adoption. Cecilia Martinez would have done so, across thousands of miles, for love of a grandchild she had never seen.
There must be more people out there like them.