Andrew Bridge was just six years old when he saw his mother, who was schizophrenic, slit her wrists and paint his name with her blood. Though she survived, Bridge was placed in foster care for the next decade — the remainder of his childhood.
Now a lawyer and advocate for kids in the foster system, Bridge documents his childhood experience in Hope's Boy. He says the country's foster care system is extremely flawed.
"What we need to do is to find out how we can best keep kids with their own families safe and together with the folks who know and love them best," Bridge says. "And then ... if we cannot do that, then ensure that we provide enough support and enough social workers to go ahead and do their job effectively."
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