He didn't go into foster care, he went to Los Angeles Juvenile Hall and he was incarcerated. While there, he was beaten and raped by both fellow wards and counselors.
[WS:] if that is indeed what actually happened, it was clearly an abuse and I am pretty sure that the person can seek redress in courts. Literary fiction id not proof. If I wrote an autobiographical novel, I could write anything I wanted in it for the dramatic effect.
I never said that there is no abuse in the system. My wife (soon to be ex) works in child neglect and abuse prevention services and has told me a number of stories about various abuses of the system. It is sad but avoidable, and that is why they have child advocates and the number of nonprofit monitoring the system.
But the truth is that for every cases of abuse by the system there are dozens of cases in which children have been severely neglected and abused, and probably an equal number of cases in which the abuse was not prevented because nobody reported it, the social worked did not do his job, or perhaps some bleeding heart did not want to "interfere in domestic affairs" or "get the family in trouble."
So to reiterate, I think it is good that whenever the legal guardians are arrested, the minor child is sent to foster care. This prevents neglect and abuse. This is what foster care is for - to protect children whose parents are unable or unwilling to care for them.
Wojtek