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Award winning truth cuts through the haze,

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confronts the darkness
in these end times days.

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A single match struck against the fear,
hope ignites, drawing redemption near.

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Can you feel the trembling in the ground?

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A buried heartbeat making sound.

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We all live in Dead America, but the
dawn’s creeping across the Panorama.

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This dead awakens, change begins,
from broken places, hope unpins.

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Yeah, we all live in Dead America.

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One healing spark starts the pyre,
burning brighter, taking it higher.

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Today we’re speaking with Adriene
Caldwell, she is the author of

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Unbroken: Life Outside The Lines.

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Adriene, could you please
introduce yourself?

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Let people know just a little
more about you, please.

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Absolutely.

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First, I wanna thank you, Ed,
for having me on your show.

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It’s a privilege to be here
with your audience and with you.

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I am Adriene Caldwell, I did write a
book, it’s Unbroken: Life Outside The

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Lines, and it’s the story of my life
from early childhood to early twenties.

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And this will serve as our
trigger warnings, uh, as well

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as a foundation for who I am.

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So during that time, I was either the
witness to or the victim of sexual assault

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of a young girl, the drowning death of
another child, emotional and physical

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abuse, extreme poverty, mental illness,
homelessness, horrifically abusive foster

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care, bulimia, drug and alcohol addiction,
pedophilia, death, suicide, and incest.

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So there is not a lot that I can’t
relate to in one way or another.

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I have during that time, well, my entire
life, uh, the, the hits actually kept on

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coming even after my, my early twenties.

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I don’t include it in the book, there,
there may be a book two out there one

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day, not sure, but, um, yeah, my, my
life was hell and I made it through.

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And I’m on the other side of it, and
I, I am writing my book, I am sharing

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my story for anyone out there who
is feeling just lost and alone, and,

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like, nobody understands what they’re
going through and nobody can relate.

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I, I wanna put myself out there, uh,
to, to kind of be a, a beacon, if

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you will, if that doesn’t sound too
snobby, uh, or pretentious, really.

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Um, if I can go through everything
that I went through and end up with

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this amazing life that I never in
a million years could have imagined

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for myself, then you can make it to.

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It is possible.

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It’s hard, it’s brutal, um, it,
it is a struggle, but you can go

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from just surviving to thriving.

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It is possible, and I want
to put that out there.

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So that’s, that’s kind of
me, that’s what I’m doing.

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Yeah.

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It’s, it’s fascinating, you know,
the content that you put out

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there, it, it’s just in your face.

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You give reports, you give notes,
you give the inside look at the

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reality of going through the system.

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And really, I’m fascinated about
your, your, your unique experience

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going through that system.

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Could you tell us more about what you
perceive of the systematic failures that

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you witnessed going through the system?

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Absolutely, the failures were epic.

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I, I’ll start by saying that
my schizophrenic, physically

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abusive mother, uh, my last
beating was with a wooden dow rod.

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The thing you hang your
clothes on in the closet.

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That was my last beating from her and
I’ve never had a nightmare about her.

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However, the woman that I was placed
with when I entered Children’s Protective

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Services, the foster mother, um, and
in my book, I refer to her as TBFH,

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The Bitch From Hell, um, I’ve had
nightmares about her my entire adult life.

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Including within the last three
months, I’ve had nightmares about her.

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Couple of statistics that, that I, I like
to put out regarding foster care, and

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this is, this is very close to my heart,
um, in most states, I, I can’t say all, I

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don’t know for sure, but in most states,
when you’re a ward of the state until

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you’re eighteen, you’re able to attend
any public, state, in state university,

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and they waive your tuition and fees.

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And now not only do you get to go to
college for free, they actually help with

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your room and board and your meal plan.

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There are funds allocated to that.

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So, and it doesn’t have to be university,
it can be a vocational program.

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Go to, go to school for cosmetology,
or electrician, plumber, what have you.

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And less than three percent of
kids turning eighteen, getting out

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of foster care, less than three
percent take advantage of that.

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And that’s just, just
such a missed opportunity.

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Another, another stat, um, prisoners,
one in five, roughly twenty percent

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of our US prison population, one
in five are former foster youth.

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They’ve been in foster
care, one in five prisoners.

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And, um, finally, seven out of ten
females will have had a child by the

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time they’re twenty-one years old.

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Seven out of ten.

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So not only are we failing our children,
these children that, that have been

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entrusted to the public, to this state
for their welfare, not only are we

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failing them, we are setting their
children up for failure as well.

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By not ensuring that the eighteen-year-old
goes to vocational school or the

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college, by not ensuring that, that
they’re gonna have tangible life

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skills, so, so that they can have a
profession and, and not rely on, on

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the already strained and broken social
safety net that’s meant to be in place.

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It’s there, but it is so flawed,
um, it, it failed me epically.

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My foster parent, The
Bitch From Hell, TBFH.

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And it’s B, I, I’m just
not saying that word.

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Um, And I never use her
first name in, in the book.

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I, I never give her a name,

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I, I refuse to even give her
that level of control in my life.

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But the foster girls, we had to
sit on the floor like animals.

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We weren’t allowed to sit
on the furniture, and we ate

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separately from her family.

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It was the foster parent, her two
daughters and her granddaughter.

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We weren’t allowed to eat with
them, and we had separate food,

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like, they would have the steak and
baked potatoes and we’d be eating

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tuna casserole, hamburger helper.

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We had separate dishes and silverware.

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And the house, uh, and there were
between four and seven girls,

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uh, at any point in the home.

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Uh, the master bathroom had a half bath,
a, a sink and a toilet, and that was

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the only toilet we were allowed to use.

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The main bathroom, which we had
to use to shower in, um, we were

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not allowed to use their toilet.

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So, and at the end of the showers,
the last foster girl to, to shower

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for the evening, she had to clean the
tub with bleach before any member of

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the foster family would use the tub.

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So we were systematically
dehumanized and just made to feel

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so insignificant, so, just like
we were, we were less than human.

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We, we were certainly less
than the foster parents.

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And the woman, I, I generally believe
people are good, they don’t set out

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to hurt people and, and, you know,
on this hidden agenda of being mean.

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But I’ve never been able to
explain or understand her behavior.

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Uh, for example, one time I was trying
on swimsuits and I came out and I

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showed her and she looked me up and
down and said, Oh, your thighs are fat.

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I’m surprised you haven’t started growing
up to lose weight, those were her words.

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I was, while in her care, I was put
on medication to treat my depression.

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And for me at the time, at fifteen
years old, I thought that meant that

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I was defective, that I was broken.

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And I came back from that
appointment and I took my razor

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apart and I scratched my wrist.

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Um, it, it wasn’t life threatening,
I don’t wanna go into the details.

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But when she saw the marks,
she looked at me and she said,

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You didn’t even do it right.

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You’re supposed to cut
along the vein, not across.

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Those were her words to me.

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So this woman traumatized me and
I was in special foster care.

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I was in what’s called therapeutic
foster care, it’s for kids

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who have additional needs.

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Yes, yes, exactly.

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That, that’s kind of crazy.

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Uh, that, that, you know, in your

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materials, it came up that you were
faced with socioeconomic class setting

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in a foster where you felt a disruption
because of the separation in class.

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Is this what you’re referring to?

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Partly, but before I went to her home, uh,
I was placed with my best friend’s family.

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And I went from abject poverty.

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When my mother, and I, and my brother,
we lived in government housing,

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we were the only white family out
of the entire apartment complex.

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And it was a very large apartment
complex and just abject poverty.

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We, we couldn’t afford a vacuum, so my
mother, we were poor, but we were not

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dirty, my mother would sweep the carpet.

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Everything got bleached.

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But we were so poor, and food stamps
don’t cover paper goods, so we used

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wash rags instead of toilet paper.

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We washed our clothes in the bathtub
and hung them up to dry there because we

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couldn’t afford to go to the laundromat.

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We were, used baking soda because
we couldn’t afford toothpaste

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and food stamps didn’t cover it.

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So, um, and, and that was just
the being poor side of my life.

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My mother was schizophrenic
and physically abusive.

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She beat me regularly and that did
not impact my life negatively to the

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same degree as the witch from hell.

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So, um, but back to the question, my best
friend in sixth grade, my brother and I,

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my mother relinquished her rights and she
basically released us so that we could

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be adopted into my best friend’s family.

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And coming from never having been
to a restaurant where a waiter comes

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and takes your order to, you know,
a five bedroom, four bath, you know,

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two Lexus cars in the garage, just
upper affluent, upper middle class,

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um, they weren’t uber wealthy, but,
but they were upper middle class and in

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my psychiatric evaluation, which I do
include at the end of my book at the end

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of Unbroken, I do include the psychiatric
evaluation from when I was thirteen,

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there is a quote that says basically
that I am in an unfamiliar territory

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in almost every situation I encounter.

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So, and that was absolutely true, I did
not know how to fit into their world.

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And it wasn’t obvious because in
school I, their structure and their

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rules and I thrived because it, I knew
the rules and I, uh, followed them.

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And, um, school was my escape.

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It’s how I, how I got out of
the being so poor that, that we

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lived off of eggs and potatoes,

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you know, because we couldn’t afford meat.

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It was, it was my refuge from my
schizophrenic abusive mother so I thrived

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and did very well in academic setting.

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But take me out and put me in a family
system that I’ve, I’ve never seen,

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a functional family, I, I don’t know
the dynamics of a mother, father.

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I, I don’t have a father, there,
there’s never been a father in my life.

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So you, you take me out of one
environment and drop me into this

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environment where I have no idea
what’s expected of me or what to say.

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And, and there were two sons in the
family besides the, the girl that

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I was best friends with and the
nickname that they gave me behind

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my back, of course, was Ice Queen.

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They called me Ice Queen because
whenever I was with them I was

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essentially silent and it came off
as if I thought I was better than

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them, or, you know, being snobby.

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What they didn’t understand was I
didn’t understand how to behave,

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or what to do, or what to say, I, I
was uncomfortable the entire time.

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Because I had never witnessed
that before, I didn’t know.

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So,

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So, uh, let, let me barge in there
for a moment, if you will, Adriene.

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Uh, as, as a person that’s been
through it, would you say the living

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environment that was best suited for
you, provided by the system, would it

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have been in like a group home setting
with other girls or through one of

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these homes, uh, foster care homes
with you living with another family?

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Because I see there’s a difference.

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There would be structure that’s
identifiable in the group home setting,

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but not so much in a family setting
where you have to guess, per se, like

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you’re saying, what is my boundaries?

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And, and it would be like you’re
being freshly born into the family

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and you’ve got to really figure
all of that stuff out again.

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So with all of that being said,
what setting would you say is the

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best setting when you have to remove
children from a setting like that?

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That’s a great question,
that’s a great point.

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I, I had never thought
about that before, the idea.

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Um, we were homeless the summer
after fourth grade, we lived in the

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Salvation Army in downtown Houston.

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And that’s why when I was in foster
care, I opted to go to the therapeutic

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foster home instead of a girl’s home.

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00:18:31,890 –> 00:18:38,284
And I, I was familiar with what it
was like living in a shelter, living,

211
00:18:38,705 –> 00:18:46,085
you know, uh, I was familiar with that
environment and I, I thought, I mistakenly

212
00:18:46,085 –> 00:18:50,915
thought that I was going to be placed
in a family that was like the family

213
00:18:50,915 –> 00:18:53,915
that initially took my brother and me.

214
00:18:54,245 –> 00:18:57,185
And, uh, we were only with
them for about a month,

215
00:18:57,185 –> 00:18:59,975
it was while CPS was
getting the paperwork done.

216
00:19:00,395 –> 00:19:08,205
Um, but, uh, I, I thought that’s what
every foster family would be like.

217
00:19:08,210 –> 00:19:14,774
The, the Blairs, they were middle class,
working class, you know, taking in foster

218
00:19:14,774 –> 00:19:18,675
kids, good people, just, just good people.

219
00:19:19,514 –> 00:19:23,745
And I, I thought that’s
where I was gonna be placed.

220
00:19:23,745 –> 00:19:30,240
But the setting question, I would’ve, I
would’ve functioned better in the group

221
00:19:30,240 –> 00:19:34,439
home, I think, because as you point
out, there’s structure, boundaries.

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00:19:35,129 –> 00:19:44,715
But the family environment is where
I needed to be placed to learn how a

223
00:19:44,715 –> 00:19:51,885
family interacts, how, how people, how
the, the husband and wife communicates,

224
00:19:51,975 –> 00:19:54,554
um, how are the children treated?

225
00:19:54,915 –> 00:19:56,024
What are the boundaries?

226
00:19:56,115 –> 00:19:57,915
What does punishment look like?

227
00:19:58,544 –> 00:20:03,584
Um, I, I didn’t learn any of
that, or, well, I, I learned it,

228
00:20:03,584 –> 00:20:05,544
it was just incredibly unhealthy.

229
00:20:06,184 –> 00:20:11,400
Uh, I learned, uh, from, from
my mother, the dysfunction.

230
00:20:11,550 –> 00:20:20,490
So what really, the, the thing that
changed the trajectory for my life, in

231
00:20:20,490 –> 00:20:26,580
my, my junior year of high school, I
received a congressional scholarship to

232
00:20:26,580 –> 00:20:29,490
do a one year foreign exchange to Germany.

233
00:20:30,090 –> 00:20:35,280
And I lived with an incredible
host family, and it was the

234
00:20:35,280 –> 00:20:39,030
mother, father, and they had a
five-year-old daughter at the time.

235
00:20:39,750 –> 00:20:49,050
And I, I got to see how a family
functions, the engagement, the behavior.

236
00:20:49,470 –> 00:20:56,610
And I went from TBFH, sitting on her
floor, not being worthy of using her

237
00:20:56,610 –> 00:21:05,070
restroom, to having my own room and
my own bathroom, and being accepted

238
00:21:05,220 –> 00:21:12,110
and invited into a family environment
where I was welcome and wanted.

239
00:21:12,750 –> 00:21:20,909
And I learned through that experience
what a family is supposed to look

240
00:21:20,909 –> 00:21:24,060
like and how to behave and boundaries.

241
00:21:24,360 –> 00:21:28,679
That’s where, yeah, that’s
where I, I learned it.

242
00:21:29,280 –> 00:21:36,419
And it should have been a foster
home, but I’m, I thank God I was

243
00:21:36,419 –> 00:21:41,879
given that opportunity because it, it
taught me how to function in society.

244
00:21:42,630 –> 00:21:44,520
Which I did not know how.

245
00:21:45,690 –> 00:21:46,020
Yeah.

246
00:21:46,440 –> 00:21:53,010
Well, well, that, that’s a major
point because so many, well, you

247
00:21:53,010 –> 00:21:59,220
said it earlier, there’s so many that
end up in prisons, you know, that

248
00:21:59,340 –> 00:22:01,380
are in these group home settings.

249
00:22:01,380 –> 00:22:01,390
And

250
00:22:03,545 –> 00:22:10,680
I, I, I have brothers that have
been through that foster care

251
00:22:10,680 –> 00:22:13,200
and, you know, going to prisons.

252
00:22:13,200 –> 00:22:21,690
And these, these recidivist
minds, if you will, come from the

253
00:22:21,690 –> 00:22:25,980
dysfunction that they’ve went through.

254
00:22:26,550 –> 00:22:34,850
And if, if there’s no way to bring light
to that activity to the individual,

255
00:22:36,610 –> 00:22:39,629
they may never actually get out of that.

256
00:22:39,629 –> 00:22:47,700
So finding the right setting for
the individual is a real major

257
00:22:47,760 –> 00:22:54,300
portion of how we should be
sending kids through the system.

258
00:22:55,950 –> 00:23:03,120
With that being said, how do they
identify or how do they place you?

259
00:23:03,660 –> 00:23:12,720
What are their identifying
characteristics to place the individuals?

260
00:23:13,770 –> 00:23:14,130
Sure.

261
00:23:15,150 –> 00:23:21,420
So, um, going through, uh,
Children’s Protective Services,

262
00:23:21,420 –> 00:23:27,330
they do initially, uh, complete a
psychiatric evaluation on the child.

263
00:23:27,870 –> 00:23:34,380
Uh, it’s pretty, it’s customary for the
intake process for that to take place.

264
00:23:34,740 –> 00:23:44,385
And that’s where any special emotional
needs are identified and that’s where, uh,

265
00:23:44,925 –> 00:23:47,655
you kind of get stratified, if you will.

266
00:23:47,685 –> 00:23:55,455
The, the kids with the higher needs,
um, emotional, uh, physical, what have

267
00:23:55,455 –> 00:24:04,740
you, they, they get segregated versus
the the average foster, foster kid.

268
00:24:05,895 –> 00:24:09,795
So my brother, for example, when,
when we were taken in by my best

269
00:24:09,795 –> 00:24:14,235
friend’s family in the sixth
grade, he was only four years old.

270
00:24:14,685 –> 00:24:22,515
So he was able to go into the family and
learn the rules, and the behavior, and the

271
00:24:22,515 –> 00:24:28,395
norms, and what’s accepted and what’s not,
because he was so young and he thrived.

272
00:24:28,620 –> 00:24:28,679
Um,

273
00:24:30,810 –> 00:24:36,810
and I am grateful to them because
they, they took him in, they did adopt

274
00:24:36,810 –> 00:24:42,360
him, and, and he was raised, he’s now
married, has a daughter of his own,

275
00:24:42,479 –> 00:24:45,389
he, he’s doing very well in life.

276
00:24:46,139 –> 00:24:52,080
Unfortunately for me though, I didn’t
fit in their upper middle class,

277
00:24:52,080 –> 00:24:55,679
perfect world, and they got rid of me.

278
00:24:55,770 –> 00:25:03,180
They, they pushed me off onto my aunt
and uncle and I went to live with them.

279
00:25:04,139 –> 00:25:09,960
But the, how are, how are the kids placed?

280
00:25:10,530 –> 00:25:18,660
The group homes exist because there are
just not enough foster homes and there

281
00:25:18,660 –> 00:25:25,980
are, I, I don’t know the percentages, but,
but some individuals treat foster care,

282
00:25:26,040 –> 00:25:32,520
being a foster parent, as a vocation,
as an occupation, they get as many

283
00:25:32,520 –> 00:25:38,220
children as they’re legally allowed to
have in whatever environment that they

284
00:25:38,220 –> 00:25:41,160
have, and that’s, that’s their income.

285
00:25:41,925 –> 00:25:49,365
And I don’t think that’s necessarily
a bad thing, assuming that they have,

286
00:25:49,455 –> 00:25:54,885
you know, healthy communication skills
and provide a safe environment with

287
00:25:54,885 –> 00:26:01,710
boundaries, uh, I think it is possible
for, for foster parents to do it as a job.

288
00:26:02,255 –> 00:26:05,495
Uh, and for the kids to be okay.

289
00:26:05,660 –> 00:26:07,925
I, I do think that that’s okay.

290
00:26:08,195 –> 00:26:12,605
If we got rid of all the foster
parents who, who treated it as an

291
00:26:12,605 –> 00:26:19,485
occupation, my God, we’d, we’d have,
you know, ten, fifteen percent,

292
00:26:19,885 –> 00:26:23,245
maybe less, of, of the existing.

293
00:26:23,275 –> 00:26:29,575
So you, you have to look at the child, but
you also have to look at the environment

294
00:26:29,575 –> 00:26:32,725
that, that the child is being placed into.

295
00:26:33,775 –> 00:26:40,195
So the reality is the group home,
in fact, when I lived with TBFH,

296
00:26:40,615 –> 00:26:47,970
my choices were a group home or,
or stay there, that, that was it.

297
00:26:49,125 –> 00:26:57,195
Um, I, I found out decades later that
my aunt would’ve taken me back, but

298
00:26:58,514 –> 00:27:02,715
yeah, I, I was thirteen years old
when I went to live with my aunt.

299
00:27:02,790 –> 00:27:08,774
I, I was very emotionally damaged
just, I had been repeatedly

300
00:27:08,774 –> 00:27:11,475
abandoned in, in my life.

301
00:27:12,225 –> 00:27:19,365
So yeah, you have to, you have
to look at the child and then

302
00:27:19,395 –> 00:27:22,034
the reality of, of the situation.

303
00:27:22,544 –> 00:27:27,945
I, I believe that a, a home setting,
assuming all the things are in place

304
00:27:27,945 –> 00:27:32,835
and as it should be, is a better
environment because that foster

305
00:27:32,835 –> 00:27:34,919
child doesn’t know how to behave.

306
00:27:35,610 –> 00:27:39,780
They haven’t been raised properly,
they haven’t been taught, they, they

307
00:27:39,780 –> 00:27:43,650
don’t have boundaries, they don’t
understand social skills, these are

308
00:27:43,650 –> 00:27:45,870
things that they have to actively learn.

309
00:27:46,410 –> 00:27:53,250
And I don’t, I don’t know if therapy
is par, par for the course, if

310
00:27:53,250 –> 00:27:56,100
you will, in regular foster care.

311
00:27:56,100 –> 00:27:59,070
But I had a therapist who
came out every other week,

312
00:27:59,475 –> 00:28:00,795
who came to the home.

313
00:28:01,425 –> 00:28:07,305
So on one hand I was receiving therapy
and it was addressing my depression,

314
00:28:07,335 –> 00:28:14,385
my anxiety, my OCD tendencies, um,
we were addressing those issues, but

315
00:28:14,385 –> 00:28:20,025
I was simultaneously being abused
by the foster parent and her family.

316
00:28:20,595 –> 00:28:30,405
Just dehumanized and, oh, it,
it’s horrific what she did and how

317
00:28:30,405 –> 00:28:32,535
she managed to get away with it.

318
00:28:32,535 –> 00:28:36,795
I, she got away with it because
there weren’t any other choices.

319
00:28:37,155 –> 00:28:40,755
It was a group home, which, like
I said, I, I lived in a shelter,

320
00:28:40,755 –> 00:28:45,435
I knew what living in a shelter
would be like, or, or stay there.

321
00:28:45,945 –> 00:28:50,595
And that scholarship that I, the
congressional scholarship that

322
00:28:50,595 –> 00:28:54,615
I received, it’s, it saved me.

323
00:28:54,975 –> 00:28:56,325
It really saved me.

324
00:28:56,505 –> 00:29:01,425
I, I was willing to go to a country
where I did not speak the language,

325
00:29:01,425 –> 00:29:03,465
where I did not know anyone,

326
00:29:04,125 –> 00:29:10,425
um, I was willing to do that
rather than stay in that home.

327
00:29:11,205 –> 00:29:13,335
Like, I found an out for me.

328
00:29:15,030 –> 00:29:19,590
I remember when they were handing
out the applications in my German one

329
00:29:19,590 –> 00:29:25,230
class, my intro to German class, the
professor, the teacher was handing

330
00:29:25,230 –> 00:29:27,270
out the applications in the classroom.

331
00:29:27,270 –> 00:29:32,610
And at lunch I was filling in my
application because I, I was applying,

332
00:29:32,610 –> 00:29:40,590
I, I knew that I, I saw an opportunity
to get out of that, out of TBFH’s home.

333
00:29:41,160 –> 00:29:48,120
And it ended up being so much
of a blessing that, that it

334
00:29:48,120 –> 00:29:49,640
changed the course of my life.

335
00:29:50,130 –> 00:29:54,960
I would be dead if that had
not occurred, I’d be dead.

336
00:29:55,800 –> 00:30:00,510
And it’s not for lack of
trying, the, the, I’m not dead.

337
00:30:01,410 –> 00:30:01,800
So.

338
00:30:03,990 –> 00:30:04,260
Yeah.

339
00:30:05,070 –> 00:30:10,620
Well, uh, you know, the circumstances
that you grew up in, it, it, it’s a wonder

340
00:30:10,620 –> 00:30:13,110
that people do survive in the first place.

341
00:30:13,110 –> 00:30:17,189
And that’s the remarkable thing
that you’re out here doing is trying

342
00:30:17,189 –> 00:30:21,450
to tell people, I don’t have the
answers for everything, but I can

343
00:30:21,450 –> 00:30:24,540
tell you there’s an end to this.

344
00:30:24,960 –> 00:30:30,120
And that’s, that’s really major
that you’re out voicing this

345
00:30:30,510 –> 00:30:32,430
because people need that hope.

346
00:30:34,500 –> 00:30:40,350
So, you know, do you really
think it’s, uh, about funding

347
00:30:41,040 –> 00:30:44,220
when it comes to group homes?

348
00:30:44,760 –> 00:30:52,455
Uh, like the foster care, do they have
people come in and help the individuals?

349
00:30:52,455 –> 00:30:59,604
You said it’s their only income, so
that that’s like a business owner.

350
00:31:00,374 –> 00:31:08,354
They have the right to allocate funds
where they see fit, but is it allocated

351
00:31:08,354 –> 00:31:16,125
in the proper ways and are these things
being determined in the right way?

352
00:31:18,284 –> 00:31:20,625
No, it’s not funded properly.

353
00:31:21,104 –> 00:31:27,104
And our caseworkers, the,
the social workers out there,

354
00:31:27,435 –> 00:31:30,104
um, they’re not paid enough.

355
00:31:30,104 –> 00:31:31,905
They’re not paid a livable wage.

356
00:31:32,385 –> 00:31:37,334
The burnout is incredibly high, I think
it’s like three to five years max.

357
00:31:37,635 –> 00:31:43,725
And then, uh, they change
professions and it, it just boils

358
00:31:43,725 –> 00:31:49,965
down to our social safety net, you
know, is, is it has holes in it.

359
00:31:51,030 –> 00:31:53,070
It has major holes.

360
00:31:54,405 –> 00:31:54,765
Yeah.

361
00:31:55,335 –> 00:31:59,985
Yeah, I, I see there’s quite
a few systematic failures.

362
00:32:01,125 –> 00:32:09,015
One thing, if I may, the, uh,
my foster parent, TBFH, did not

363
00:32:09,015 –> 00:32:10,785
work for the state of Texas.

364
00:32:11,085 –> 00:32:17,955
She worked for a company that was
for-profit, a for-profit company that

365
00:32:17,955 –> 00:32:20,795
contracted with the state of Texas.

366
00:32:22,125 –> 00:32:29,595
So, they were a for-profit company
trying to make money off of this and

367
00:32:29,625 –> 00:32:37,215
serving as, uh, so TBFH reported to
that company, not the state of Texas

368
00:32:37,425 –> 00:32:40,635
or the case worker, but to a company.

369
00:32:41,625 –> 00:32:49,755
And I think the monetizing
childcare, monetizing raising

370
00:32:49,755 –> 00:32:52,665
our children, it’s a mistake.

371
00:32:53,199 –> 00:33:01,844
It, it, it’s just fraught
with, with problems, that it’s,

372
00:33:04,665 –> 00:33:05,115
yeah.

373
00:33:06,930 –> 00:33:11,670
Well, if, if you’re going to take
it upon yourself to say, I’m here to

374
00:33:11,670 –> 00:33:17,370
provide the best for your child and
take the child from the home, you’d

375
00:33:17,370 –> 00:33:19,980
better have that in mind, not profit.

376
00:33:20,520 –> 00:33:24,600
Because it cost a lot of money
to raise a child properly.

377
00:33:25,230 –> 00:33:31,635
So the, the mindset behind all of this,
to do things for profit is getting in

378
00:33:31,635 –> 00:33:39,405
the way of healthy families, values,
setting structural boundaries, there’s

379
00:33:39,405 –> 00:33:49,754
so much wrong with devaluing life and
monetizing, just corralling the life.

380
00:33:50,145 –> 00:33:57,405
And, and that’s what I’m witnessing
and seeing the system do in many ways

381
00:33:57,405 –> 00:34:06,405
and it’s disheartening and the only
way to really get light shined upon

382
00:34:06,405 –> 00:34:11,985
these problems is to have conversations
like this that we’re having today.

383
00:34:12,225 –> 00:34:17,295
Is there anything else that you think
that our listeners should understand about

384
00:34:18,195 –> 00:34:21,945
the way the system raises our children?

385
00:34:24,480 –> 00:34:29,909
I feel like we’ve, we’ve covered
it well, uh, we understand that,

386
00:34:30,090 –> 00:34:34,800
that the children are coming from
completely dysfunctional environments.

387
00:34:34,800 –> 00:34:42,570
The state doesn’t step in for a minor
situation, they, they, there are rare

388
00:34:42,570 –> 00:34:48,060
instances where the state intervenes and,
and it’s not an appropriate situation.

389
00:34:48,085 –> 00:34:54,139
But, but I, the majority of the time, the
children that are taken into care have

390
00:34:54,139 –> 00:35:03,440
experienced horrific abuse, and we are
not, we are not getting them counseling

391
00:35:03,440 –> 00:35:09,230
and therapy and psychiatric appointments,
and we are not ensuring that they take

392
00:35:09,230 –> 00:35:15,794
advantage of that tuition waiver and go
on to vocational school or college, um,

393
00:35:16,095 –> 00:35:22,875
we’re, we’re not ensuring the, that the
foster parents should be foster parents,

394
00:35:22,875 –> 00:35:24,794
should be trusted with our children.

395
00:35:24,794 –> 00:35:30,884
Our, our children are our most precious
resource and we are squandering it.

396
00:35:31,870 –> 00:35:32,089
So,

397
00:35:35,055 –> 00:35:37,754
Yes, I, I agree.

398
00:35:38,325 –> 00:35:40,305
Uh, I agree with that a lot.

399
00:35:40,935 –> 00:35:50,775
So the, the bottom line is we, we have
people that are getting away with or,

400
00:35:53,625 –> 00:35:57,825
I, I, I don’t wanna, you know,
dehumanize the people that are

401
00:35:58,890 –> 00:36:05,580
helping, but there are some abusing
that system and using it for profit.

402
00:36:06,000 –> 00:36:12,870
So I, I wish that if, if somebody
out there listening to this,

403
00:36:13,620 –> 00:36:17,510
they can actually help reach out.

404
00:36:17,880 –> 00:36:24,825
And the best people to find out the
ins and outs are people like you,

405
00:36:24,964 –> 00:36:26,714
Adriene, because you’ve lived it.

406
00:36:27,134 –> 00:36:35,475
And I, I’ve often witnessed where
they have congressional committees

407
00:36:36,615 –> 00:36:41,955
and the wrong people are putting
on, are being put on the committees.

408
00:36:42,255 –> 00:36:47,235
We really need to look at that
because that’s where all of this is

409
00:36:47,235 –> 00:36:53,355
going to be settled is through those
committees, and it’s gotta be bipartisan,

410
00:36:53,355 –> 00:36:58,875
non-political, and it’s gotta be
addressing the right issues aimed at

411
00:36:58,875 –> 00:37:03,285
a better life for all those children
that have already suffered enough.

412
00:37:03,945 –> 00:37:04,515
That’s.

413
00:37:05,445 –> 00:37:08,685
Absolutely, I could not
agree with you more.

414
00:37:10,185 –> 00:37:15,345
Yeah, so I wanna say thank
you for sharing with us today.

415
00:37:15,345 –> 00:37:21,855
I think this is an important topic and
I think that with what you’re doing,

416
00:37:21,915 –> 00:37:29,835
the book, all of your podcast speaking,
it, it is going to touch people.

417
00:37:30,225 –> 00:37:36,915
So could you let people know how to
find your book, get in touch with

418
00:37:36,915 –> 00:37:38,355
you, and get involved with you?

419
00:37:40,020 –> 00:37:46,590
Absolutely, uh, the book will be available
on Amazon beginning March 17th, Amazon

420
00:37:46,590 –> 00:37:48,930
and all the, the usual book places.

421
00:37:49,410 –> 00:37:55,320
Um, I’m presently trying to get placed
in, in Barnes and Noble, hopefully.

422
00:37:55,950 –> 00:38:01,830
But, um, unbroken caldwell,
unbroken caldwell is my website.

423
00:38:01,890 –> 00:38:06,770
It’s also my social handle, I’m on
Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

424
00:38:07,580 –> 00:38:12,750
And for any of the listeners, if
you reach out to me through any

425
00:38:12,750 –> 00:38:15,480
of those mediums, I will respond.

426
00:38:15,900 –> 00:38:20,310
And I do see the submission forms
from my website, so anyone who

427
00:38:20,310 –> 00:38:25,380
wants to, to get in touch, please,
by all means, I, I am open to it.

428
00:38:25,980 –> 00:38:34,610
And I am, my book launch, I am hosting a
live stream, so Facebook live stream book

429
00:38:34,610 –> 00:38:38,000
launch on March 17th, 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM.

430
00:38:38,000 –> 00:38:44,480
So just a short reading, some trivia,
some author Q and A, and, uh, free stuff.

431
00:38:44,870 –> 00:38:46,200
I’m gonna have some giveaways.

432
00:38:49,335 –> 00:38:53,720
That’s always fun and you, you
know, that’s, that’s a good way

433
00:38:53,720 –> 00:38:55,195
to get people involved also.

434
00:38:56,355 –> 00:39:00,945
So I wanna say thank you for being
here today, and what you’re doing

435
00:39:00,945 –> 00:39:03,315
is very fascinating and very needed.

436
00:39:03,555 –> 00:39:04,065
Thank you.

437
00:39:05,055 –> 00:39:06,675
Thank you, Ed, for having me.

438
00:39:06,825 –> 00:39:11,205
Again, it’s a privilege to be
here with your audience, with you.

439
00:39:11,655 –> 00:39:14,235
I’m, I’m honored, I’m humbled.

440
00:39:14,685 –> 00:39:14,865
Thank you.

441
00:39:15,795 –> 00:39:22,054
Rain on Houston streets warm like
childhood memories, whispered prayers in

442
00:39:22,164 –> 00:39:24,815
tangled sheets, echoes of desperate pleas.

443
00:39:25,315 –> 00:39:29,015
Ink-stained hands trace scars
on the page, each line a battle

444
00:39:29,935 –> 00:39:33,515
fought, turning pain to righteous
rage, redemption in each thought.

445
00:39:33,515 –> 00:39:40,065
Unbroken, rising from the ash of every
fallen dream, words like lanterns

446
00:39:40,125 –> 00:39:43,004
in the dark, a guiding golden beam.

447
00:39:43,575 –> 00:39:47,025
For the wounded, tired, weak
who’ve lost their way back home.

448
00:39:47,745 –> 00:39:51,245
Igniting every spark until
the embers start to glow.

449
00:39:51,245 –> 00:39:55,845
Unbroken, stronger than the fall
that tried to break your spine,

450
00:39:56,565 –> 00:40:00,735
light that can’t be drowned
by storms or passing time.

451
00:40:00,735 –> 00:40:10,834
Stitching gold into the seams
where all the fractures meet.

452
00:40:10,834 –> 00:40:14,324
Phoenix in our dreams with
fire beneath her wings.

453
00:40:14,324 –> 00:40:14,414
Weight

454
00:40:14,414 –> 00:40:20,254
of silence in the August heat, cicadas
hum their tune, dawn’s gold thread through

455
00:40:20,254 –> 00:40:21,894
broken night arrives a moment too soon.

456
00:40:21,894 –> 00:40:23,609
Pages rustle like autumn
leaves, truth laid bare and raw.

457
00:40:23,609 –> 00:40:27,380
Hearts begin to beat again
where fear had gripped before.

458
00:40:27,640 –> 00:40:44,810
Oh, the night was long but morning
comes with mercy in her hands,

459
00:40:44,839 –> 00:40:46,210
every scar becomes a roadmap
to where the healing stands.

460
00:40:46,210 –> 00:40:51,000
Unbroken, rising from the ash
of every fallen dream, words

461
00:40:51,040 –> 00:40:52,879
like lanterns in the dark, a

462
00:40:52,950 –> 00:40:55,160
guiding, golden beam.

463
00:40:55,459 –> 00:41:00,359
For the wounded, tired, weak who’ve
lost their way back home, igniting every

464
00:41:00,359 –> 00:41:01,009
spark until the embers start to glow.

465
00:41:01,009 –> 00:41:07,079
Unbroken, stronger than the fall
that tried to break your spine,

466
00:41:07,079 –> 00:41:10,449
light that can’t be drowned by

467
00:41:12,159 –> 00:41:12,469
storms or passing time.

468
00:41:12,469 –> 00:41:16,459
Stitching gold into the seams
where all the fractures meet.

469
00:41:16,879 –> 00:41:21,989
Phoenix in our dreams with
fire beneath her wings.

470
00:41:21,989 –> 00:41:26,069
Cracks let the light flood in like
rivers after rain, strength was there

471
00:41:26,229 –> 00:41:28,589
all along beneath the bruise and strain.

472
00:41:28,649 –> 00:41:32,660
From shattered pieces mosaics
form each shard a story told,

473
00:41:32,660 –> 00:41:38,400
whispered words become a song
that turns the lead to gold.

474
00:41:38,400 –> 00:41:40,729
Through the wreckage through the sorrow,
you’re still standing, see tomorrow.

475
00:41:40,729 –> 00:42:03,574
Unbroken, rising from the ash of every
fallen dream, words like lanterns

476
00:42:03,684 –> 00:42:07,494
in the dark, a guiding, golden beam.

477
00:42:07,494 –> 00:42:10,474
For the wounded, tired, weak
who’ve lost their way back home.

478
00:42:11,914 –> 00:42:14,754
Igniting every spark until
the embers start to glow.

479
00:42:15,224 –> 00:42:18,524
Unbroken, stronger than the
fall that tried to break

480
00:42:18,604 –> 00:42:20,634
your spine, light that can’t

481
00:42:20,674 –> 00:42:21,814
be drowned by storms or passing time.

482
00:42:21,814 –> 00:42:37,190
Stitching gold into the seams
where all the fractures meet.

483
00:42:37,190 –> 00:42:41,539
Phoenix in our dreams with
fire beneath her wings.

484
00:42:41,539 –> 00:42:42,719
Unbroken, like the dawn that
paints the eastern sky, begin

485
00:42:42,719 –> 00:42:43,110
again, arms wide open to

486
00:42:43,110 –> 00:42:43,420
the light.

487
00:42:43,420 –> 00:42:49,570
Through fire, flood, and years
that tried to steal your name,

488
00:42:49,570 –> 00:42:52,220
unbroken light still burns the same.