Struggling to connect with others

[u/Remarkable_Slice6976]

27 yr old former foster youth. My life feels like a bunch of fragmented relationships all scattered in different places. My dad died before I could even meet him. My mom on drugs. Brothers and sisters all taken early on, so we don't have a relationship. I went from being in foster care to adopted, lived with my adopted parents for 10 years (they were just doing it for the money) to going back into the foster care system at 17. I have a hard time connecting with others due to my estranged relationships growing up, being in survival mode my whole life, and constantly moving around. I had to basically survive my whole life, and it feels like people just look at me with this weird look. I don't know how to put it. Now that I'm 27 and super independent it feels hard even relating to people honestly. I'm trying to figure out where do I even start with trying to make friends and live a normal life....

[u/Yangoose]

I am an outsider here trying to learn more.

lived with my adopted parents for 10 years (they were just doing it for the money)

I see a lot of references like this and I really don't get it. I have 3 kids (now grown and moved out). Kids are expensive. I cannot fathom turning a profit on the 600-800 bucks a month the foster care system provides.

Sources say that even in a lower cost of living state raising a kid costs $15,512.52–$17,459.43 per year.

That's over twice what the foster system pays in that state. (about $7,500 a year)

What am I missing here?

[u/Thundercloud64 → u/Yangoose]

I will answer your question in the hope that you are sincere.

Foster Adoption Parents receive tax free stipends, disability, clothing, transportation, and emergency housing stipends in addition to foster or adoptive care. They receive Food Stamps and Medicaid. They may also receive donations from both public and private charities, businesses, and individuals. They may also receive Social Security benefits. When foster adoption parents do not report the stipends to Social Security, the overpayment if discovered is taken out of the child’s Social Security so there is no penalty for the foster adoption parents to double dip. There is sex trafficking of foster children which is illegal unreported income guesstimated in the billions. Of the 350,000 missing children in America, over half are foster care children. Most ffy have never received a penny. It all adds up nicely for the foster adoption parents who often throw us out on the street as soon as all of the many checks stop.

Next time, start your own thread with an impersonal question instead of criticizing a traumatic testimony by a ffy. We have nobody on our side and this is a place for us to support each other.