Ashley Rhodes-Courter Essay

Over 28% of children in state care are abused while in the child care system. Once placed in foster care, a child is not always guaranteed to be safe from abuse. Ashley Rhodes-Courter was abused in one of the foster homes she was put in. She was starved and beaten almost on a daily basis when living in that home. Courter went through fourteen different foster homes and attended nine different schools in a span of nine years. Although Ashley Rhodes-Courter was not in the most nurturing environment as a child, she later used her experiences to become successful.

Ashley Rhodes-Courter was born in an inadequate environment and was put in the foster care system at the age of three, but now she’s in a loving home with a loving family that can care

The Courter’s were very caring and loving towards Ashley and helped her become the successful woman she is today. Although in the beginning of the adoption, Ashley was distant from her adoptive parents. She is now closer to them than ever before, she said that “they’re my best friends now” (Holan). Both Gay and Phil helped Ashley become the lady she is today. Without them, she wouldn’t have the chance to speak up about her experiences and help other kids who are or were in abusive foster care homes. Gay and Phil both helped Ashley by helping her create her book and her in lawsuits against her abusive foster care parents. Furthermore, instead of keeping the memory of her experiences, Ashley chose to speak out and to inform others about how flawed some foster care systems could be. Many children, including herself, were forced to lie about being happy in abusive foster care homes because of fear of getting punished. Ashley is now 26 years old and she goes around talking to communities and “ she’s an internationally known child welfare activist who has penned a New York Times bestselling memoir about the hardships she overcame and consults groups on the subject” (Summers). She didn’t let the abusive foster parents that treated her wrongly continue to abuse other kids that were still under their care. The Moss’s went to court because of Ashley. She is the one who

As a child Ashley was not raised in a great environment, her mother didn’t really pay attention to Ashley’s safety. Ashley is now adopted by the Courter’s, where she is looked after and cared for. Another one of Ashley’s obstacles she had to overcome was being taken away from her family at the age of 3. She didn’t let her past rule over everything, to escape her past she put her thoughts and feelings into her school work. Finally, Ashley was put into an abusive foster care home, but now she uses her experience in that horrible home to help speak out about children's wellness in the foster care system. Ashley Rhodes-Courter is successful because she overcame the darkest of times in her past and now uses them to her advantage to spread the word and help thousands of other kids in the world that are abused by foster homes. She helps prevent other children that are currently in the foster care system from ever being put into the situation she was put into years