I'm missing work. We didn't have enough money for preschool. I had a panic attack. I couldn't do it. I became one of those horrible foster parents who give the kids back.

We were pressured to accept kids we were not qualified to handle. And we do that to people all the time, which is why we don't have enough foster parents.

I've worked with homeless kids, kids in foster care, and I've never met a kid who couldn't be reached.

I have spent a lot of time with foster children over the years - kids for whom I have not necessarily acted as a foster parent.

I wanted to write with emotional honesty and tell a story people could connect with. And I wanted people to know how the foster system in America fails children; and how, at 18, they fall through the cracks. Then we can all work together and give support.

Though politics is by nature divisive, surely we all can agree that foster children need stability, safety, education, opportunity - and love.