An experienced social worker and certified foster parent who lives in a two-bedroom home in Oklahoma has been struggling to gain custody of two of her nephews, according to a report.
Ashley Boone, a 36-year-old child welfare specialist who lives in suburban Tulsa, has been “fighting” with Minnesota’s legal system to reconnect them for nearly three years, the Sahan Journal reported this month. However, their current foster mom, who is white, argues that removing them from their latest living situation to their aunt’s house out of state in Tulsa will disrupt their growth and lives.
“I work this job,” Boone told The Journal. “Kids would rather sleep on the floor at grandma’s house than be in a mansion.”
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The boys, ages 6 and 7, have been taken from their Willmar, Minnesota, home and have been in the foster care system since the fall of 2020, according to the publication. The removal from the family home followed reports the children were being neglected by their parents. For example, they were seen eating out of the garbage and dressed in dirty clothing.
Officials soon discovered that the brothers were exposed to domestic violence and drug use — with both testing positive for methamphetamine and one with marijuana, according to the outlet, citing court records.
Throughout the years, the brothers were transferred to four different homes, living with caregivers who were not family members, the outlet reported. Currently, the biracial boys live with a white foster mom who works as a sales manager. Therapists have said they have made emotional progress under her roof.
In July, a Kandiyohi County District Court judge declined to remove the brothers from their foster mom, saying it could trigger feelings of “loss and abandonment,” per the outlet. The judge also rejected Boone’s claim that the children couldn’t be raised by “people who don’t look like them,” according to the outlet.
“The boys look more like (the foster mother’s biological son) than either Ms. Boone,” the judge said, referring to the caregiver’s son, whose father is Puerto Rican.
Children need consistent family connections and a sense of belonging with their birth families, according to Minnesota’s fostering network, Foster Adopt Minnesota. The state’s law mandates that when a child enters foster care, counties must conduct a relative search and consider interested family members as placement options. Physical distance from the child’s home could also impede this process, Foster Adopt Minnesota notes.
When county social workers tried to nail down a foster placement, they contacted family members nationwide. However, Boone did not receive a letter and learned about the situation from the relative, the outlet reported. Boone and other family members reached out to show interest and were awaiting a decision.
However, at the same time, without their knowledge, the kids were already visiting their current foster mother. Boone, her attorney, and local advocates have argued that the boys should live with their family. They said the case highlights racial disparities — specifically, Black foster parents have more difficulties and are often overlooked compared to their counterparts.
“When there’s a family member that’s able, with all of the tangibles that Ashley has, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” Cynthia Wilson of the Minnesota chapter of the NAACP told the outlet. “When you have someone who has all of the things that are being requested, and then you’re still giving them a problem, something else is going on.”
According to The Journal, the foster’s mom’s plans to finalize the adoption have been halted as the county has to consider “the relatives associated with this case in accordance with state law.”
