Name: Macy Putka
Social Justice Group: Child Welfare, Foster Care and Adoption
Date of Fieldwork: February 9, 2022
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s): Alessandra Brunialti and Paul Yager
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :
On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, our social justice group had the opportunity to meet with two amazing LREI parents, Alessandra Brunialti and Paul Yager, parents of Carmen Yager, an 8th grader. Alessandra and Paul were able to foster then adopt both Carmen and her brother, Neo, through an organization called Sheltering Arms. After learning about Sheltering Arms from Alessandra and Paul, and researching online after the interview with them, we learned that organization strives and tries to find all children safe and good homes. They also work closely with their communities to address any social inequities.
Alessandra and Paul adopted both Carmen and Neo through the state. First, Carmen and Neo were first fostered. In order to foster, Alessandra and Paul had to become licensed by the state of New York. The process took nine months and some of the steps that were included to get licensed were background checks, home inspections, references from others. They even had to send their fingerprints to the FBI. Alessandra and Paul had to renew their license every year as well. We asked Alessandra and Paul if the process was annoying, hard, and complicated. Their response was that they were actually glad, “The process was hard because that means that these kids are going into really good families and that’s all we want. So we powered through and got two amazing children.” Carmen started being fostered by Alessandra and Paul when she was three months old and then Alessandra and Paul adopted her parents on June 19. And that is now celebrated as her homecoming. Homecoming basically celebrates the anniversary when a child gets officially adopted. Carmen quotes it as “Her second birthday”
Before getting Carmen and Neo, Alessandra and Paul got very little information on them both. They got to know the child’s sex, religion, and whether or not they have disabilities or medical concerns beforehand and that is it. As Carmen and Neo grew up, Alessandra and Paul gave them more information about their birth parents. According to Alessandra and Paul, being honest and accurate is the best way to be when telling your foster kids about their biological parents because you never want to reverse information in the future or develop trust issues.
It was so amazing to talk to Alessandra and Paul about their experience being foster parents and then becoming adoptive parents. Personally, I learned so much about the system just from them, and know I’m excited to learn about more experiences.
