Take it from a former foster kid — the system is broken

With all the issues with the Department of Health and Human Services, I feel compelled to write.

Being raised in foster care system along with my three siblings, we were the four Weisbacker children that fell through the cracks of the system in the state of Maine.

We were abused in one home for nine years. We were whipped with rose switches or the belt often. We were scared of the dark and were taken out into the woods and left to find our way back. We were scared to get off the school bus at the end the day as we never knew what was in store for us.

Two of my siblings are deceased and I deal with PTSD on a daily basis. We rarely saw a social worker, and if we did it was brief.

I beg Gov. Paul LePage to step up and see how things can be better. I am 60 years old now, so it’s been quite a few years and things have only gotten worse. I cry for my sisters and I cry for every child overseen by DHHS who’s being abused.

Brenda Weisbacker Fitts

South China

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