ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — While leaving his biological family was for his own protection, living in the state’s care hasn’t exactly been a safe haven for 11-year-old Logan.
“It’s really sad how your parents don’t give a crap when you’re trying to tell them that you need help calming down, and they don’t even care. That’s just really sad,” Logan said.
He was removed from his biological home at four years old due to abuse, but abuse against him continued while in foster care.
“You can’t just hurt a kid and then think it’s okay. No, it’s not. You should go to jail for that,” he continued. “They just wanted to abuse me.”
“The system has failed him, and we’re supposed to protect him and all the other kids in care. He’s just had it really rough,” said Brenna McClure.
McClure is Logan’s adoption specialist with the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
She said he struggles with anger issues resulting from the multiple forms of abuse he has experienced, as well as the false hope he’s been given.
“He’s been told on two, three occasions that he’s going to be adopted by a specific family and then they back out. That’s been really hard for him,” she said.
“I try to be chill sometimes, but when people mess with me, it triggers me,” Logan said.
This has left him with a feeling of hopelessness.
“I’ve been to multiple facilities because I couldn’t find a home. Now I’m stuck in a facility place forever, which I can’t get out of until I’m 18,” he said.
He doesn’t have to be stuck, though. Logan is available for adoption through DCFS.
When asked what kind of parents McClure thinks should adopt him, she said, “a family that is knowledgeable about trauma, very patient, understanding and willing to go to family therapy, willing to seek out any services.”
Logan said he would like a family that will help him calm down and stick by his side when he is feeling angry, something he hasn’t yet experienced.
“He just needs somebody special that can hang in there with him and, you know, never give up on him because there’s been a lot of people that have given up on him.”
Logan is in the fifth grade, and he likes science, specifically dissecting animals, and is good at math and knowledgeable about history.
He also has a bright future ahead of him with a passion for helping kids who end up in similar circumstances.
“When I grow up, I’m going to be the president of the United States. And guess what I’m going to do? I’m going to say, ‘There will be no more abusing,'” he said.
Logan’s favorite color is blue, he loves Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and would someday love to get a Dragon Ball Z tattoo on his back.
Learn more about Logan, as well as other kids, teens and sibling groups who are eligible for adoption through foster care in Arkansas on Project Zero’s website.
