Are you guys tired of the Ricky drama? I know I am. But I also know that I have a few readers that follow what is happening with him, and besides, when I blog about it I feel better. Somehow when I blog about it, I get it out of my system. So here goes.

Mom called today. (That’s Ricky’s mom, not mine). They are headed to a shelter. They’ve been turned down for several places to live because of past evictions. She has burned all her bridges with subsidized housing. Her friends are tired of hyper little Rick. They are out of options, nowhere to go.

I’m glad I’m leaving town. I’m glad I don’t have a kitchen. That way I don’t have to even think for a minute about offering them a place to stay. I don’t think I’d offer it, but it was really easy for me to say today, “sorry, we are leaving town and I can’t help you this time. I hope you find something. Try calling the churches and every caseworker you’ve ever had. Maybe they can help find resources.”

I want to help. But I also know from past experience that it is a stop gap. Emergency help for a day or two, and then she finds a new friend, or a new government program, and she is set again for a month or two or three. And then the cycle begins again.

Someone left a comment in my past rants and ravings about Rick. The comment was this:

Perhaps by taking Ricky every time his mom has a problem you are enabling her, and keeping Ricky out of the foster care system and diminishing his long-term options of finding a permanent, loving home. Just a thought.

I wish I could just ‘put them back in the system’. Then they would get some services. But she isn’t abusive or neglectful really. She loves him and feeds him (junk food, but hey) and mostly has a roof over their head. There aren’t services for these types of people, especially if they’ve burned bridges once. She won’t voluntarily put him in foster care, and there is no reason to ‘take him”.

It makes me so sad. The shelters aren’t the safest place for a young child. But I think it is better than under a bridge.

I’ve gone out of my way to hook mom up with resources in the past. I’ve called on personal favors; I’ve even taken them in for a night or two. Nothing helps long term. They need counseling, long term support and a way to TEACH mom how to live and support herself. Not the short term emergency stuff.

The whole thing is so frustrating.

AURGH!!!