A Weekend at The Cornhusker with NFAPA
By: Mr. Wilson on
August 2, 2010
- I've been in The Cornhusker before, but I had never previously spent the night there. It has been kept up well. Our room was in very good condition, as was the remainder of the hotel and conference center.
- The urinals on the main floor of the conference center use approximately one Olympic swimming pool worth of water when flushing. It's pee, people! Flushing one of those urinals is like using a fire hose to put out a birthday candle.
- That wasn't the only evidence that The Cornhusker hates Mother Nature. The conference center's air temperature was kept somewhere between "damn that's cold" and "I can't feel my extremities". And this is coming from a guy who loves air conditioning! It was impossible to tell what the actual air temperature was -- the thermostats appeared to be broken; one said the temperature was 102 degrees -- but I'd place it no higher than 65 degrees in some of the meeting rooms. What a waste of energy.
- Our room's thermostat, by the way, was set to 60 degrees. The only explanation I can come up with is that every employee at The Cornhusker is Canadian.
- There are a lot of things wrong with foster care in Nebraska. Depressingly, there have always been a lot of things wrong with foster care in Nebraska. I can't help but feel like we're spinning our wheels.
- Foster care pay rates in Nebraska suck. See here and here to compare Nebraska to other states. Go ahead, try to find a state that pays less than Nebraska. Many, if not most, foster parents are being paid somewhere around $10 to $12 per day per child. Try to imagine effectively raising a child on that amount. Include food; clothing; entertainment. Did you remember school supplies? Christmas presents? Birthday presents and a party? How about karate and piano lessons, or maybe soccer and basketball. Did you include a budget for fixing or replacing all the things your child will break, such as those holes in the wall from his latest bout of rage? Don't forget an allowance; the cost of utilities; and certainly don't forget to account for your own time and energy. How's your budget looking now?
- The Missus and I, at 29 and 31, were young compared to most of the attendees. We guessed that most of the attendees were middle to lower-middle class, income-wise. Thinking about those things made us wonder about other demographics of foster parents in Nebraska. What are the consequences of foster parent demographics? Should we -- that is, Nebraskans -- try to adjust the average foster parent demographic?
- RAD is rampant among foster kids. I've always thought of RAD as a problem for foreign orphanages. It's not.
- Foster parents need therapy. Seriously. The State places a tremendous burden of responsibility on these people and yet provides them with startlingly few resources and even fewer rights. Foster parents are stressed out, confused, and unempowered. They want to talk, vent, and be respected.
- The public at large seem to perceive foster parents in two ways: they're martyrs and/or they're nuts. I agree we are must definitely nuts, though I would argue our motivations justify our insanity. I'm concerned by foster parents who perceive themselves as martyrs. Most don't feel that way, but they represent a sizable minority. It's not a healthy attitude to hold.
- For all of the bads, being a foster parent really doesn't suck. Or at least it doesn't have to suck. If you go into the system with realistic expectations; a bit of patience; some energy; and the courage to go over or bust through the occasional bureaucratic hurdle, you'll be just fine. The first item -- realistic expectations -- is the biggie. Education is your friend.
- No, I didn't say that last bullet as part of some sort of justification to myself that I'm doing the right thing. The Missus and I knew what we were getting into. Some things have gone better than expected, others worse. But on the whole we're quite pleased, particularly since nearly all of the bumps we've experienced in the road are relatively easily fixable.
- Foster care in Nebraska needs legislative help. I'm going to contact my state senator to try to get some things started. You could do the same. And if you happen to work in the Unicameral and you want to help, I would love to speak with you.
- It's fascinating watching people at a buffet. People tend to take as much food as they can carry, even if that means they end up with a ridiculous quantity of food. The only reason I didn't fall prey to the phenomenon was that I was aware of it. Had I not thought about it I'm sure I would have done the same thing. Combine the quantity problem with a quality problem -- the conference did not serve health food! -- and you've got a whole ballroom full of people eating at least an entire day's worth of calories at one meal.
- Conference and event organizers hate vegetarians. I'm not demanding special treatment, but c'mon, through me a (metaphorical) bone. Yes, technically a bowl of lawn trimmings covered in Sysco dressing is technically vegetarian. But we can do better than that. And not just for vegetarians.
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Any idea why it happens to be so low in NE?
At this point I’m not familiar enough with the history of foster care in Nebraska to say. I’m working on educating myself on that sort of thing, though.
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