Ever since my (now adult) children started secondary school, we've had a near-constant stream of their friends staying with us or needing help due to abuse or neglect.
It started when one of dd1's friends was taken into care. She stayed in care from the age of 11 until she aged out at 18. She had a lovely foster family, but unfortunately, they moved out of the area when she was 15, and she didn't want to move with them, so she ended up in a group home and spent weekends with us (with SS permission) to get a bit of a break.
While this was ongoing, we had another of dd1's friends spending a lot of time with us because his mum had an alcohol issue and he struggled to cope with her. He ended up living with us full-time when he was 16 for around a year after his mum was evicted and failed to find another house. He left us when he found his own place at 18 but he knows he always has a bed here.
We then had one of dd2's friends always needing to stay. His sister was in care, but he was still at home with his mum. Every time she got drunk (which was frequent), she would lock him out of the home. Sometimes she would also throw his clothes/electronics onto the street, and we'd have to drive to pick him up. SS were aware but didn't remove him. He's 18 now and moved in with his older sister.
There is currently a homeless 18-year-old camped out in DD2's room, waiting for the council to rehouse her after she was evicted from her supported living flat. She can't stay with her mum because her mum keeps getting high and sending her text messages threatening to stab her to death. She did go to her mum when she was first evicted, but left after they got into a physical altercation.
They don't have a massive friendship group and also have other friends in care/at risk who haven't needed to stay with us. It feels like 50% of their friends have some level of SS involvement due to abuse or neglect.
When I was young (in the 80s), no one I knew was in care or under SS. Do my children attract an unusually high number of waifs and strays, or is this now, sadly, the norm?
We do live in an area with a high level of poverty, lack of employment opportunities, and widespread drug use, which I am sure contributes to the issue, but it still feels like parenting is a lot poorer now than it was when I grew up (in the same town with the same issues)