Foster Care System In Ashley Rhodes-Courter's Three Little Words

Thousands of children enter the foster care system every year because their biological families are unable to care for them, but in some cases being in the foster system ended up being the worse option. Ashley Rhodes-Courter, author of the memoir “Three Little Words,” and her brother are two such children that entered foster care only to be neglected by the system, a system in which people put their faith in to keep children safe. The foster care system failed Ashley in many ways while she was in their possession, such as never keeping a steady worker on her case, allowing her to go missing for nine months without verifying that she was safe, and keeping her in unqualified and overcrowded homes.

While in the care of the foster system, Ashley

Ashley spent most of her time in the system residing at foster homes that had too many children and with foster parents who were never actually qualified for the task. Her first experience of an overcrowded house was with the Paces, where there was about a dozen children living in a house too small for that many people (Rhodes-Courter 270). Once she left the Paces, Ashley lived with Adele for a while before going to live with the Pottses, where for once she was the only child there but that did not mean it was a good home. While there, Ashley had watched an inappropriate film that Mr Potts had, an experience that would haunt her for years after (Rhodes-Courter 49). It was later found out that Mr and Mrs Potts were not a suitable home for many reasons, their son was convicted of murder and Mr Potts was investigated for molestation (Rhodes-Courter 275). Yet those were not the worst homes Ashley would live in because she would reside in the home of Marjorie Moss for almost a year. Living with the Mosses was the worst Ashley’s life would get as that particular home was the lowest option for a child to live. Not only were there too many kids for one house, there were strict and harsh rules that would result in cruel punishments if not followed. For example, children were often forced to consume hot sauce (Rhodes-Courter 81) and were starved when they stepped out of