"My last placements came to me with several bags actually, all packed frantically by their older siblings, much too young to know how to appropriately pack a child in general. Most of their clothing was too small and what they could wear smelled so badly of cigarettes that (after MULTIPLE washings) could not be salvaged. Oh and a gazillion pairs of socks, mismatched shoes and 1 broken toy. You never know the situation kids are coming from. A lot of times they appreciate the familiarity of their own belongings, but it can be a process to make their possessions safe for use, in which case items are needed to fill that gap in the meantime; and in other cases, it’s just too much of a trigger for them to even look at. So, I think the important thing to note, is sometimes children coming into care have belongings, it’s just I’ve found it’s often children packing themselves or child protective investigators who don’t have time to console crying children and sort through dirty laundry." -Anonymous

"I asked those little girls if they needed anything, and they asked in return if I could buy them some jammies". -Anonymous