title: Butterfly In The Attic: My Story of Abuse and Abandonment in Foster Care
author: Shandreka M. Jones
description: Shandreka not only shares how she was allowed to fall through the cracks of a broken foster care system, yet she offers solutions she believes may improve the system. Her voice speaks for the foster care children who have been silenced by the abusive hands of those entrusted to care for them and in memory of those whose lives were lost while in abusive foster care homes. Shandreka now lives in South Carolina with her husband and son, and also has two adult step-children. A member of several foster care organizations, Shandreka has also blogged for Childrens Rights (www.childrensrights.org). Visit Shandreka at www.abutterflyintheattic.com.
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  > The true story of an abandoned, abused little girl  
  > who was desperate to be part of a family
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  ![](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > > [Chapter One](Cut_split_002.html#filepos1243)
  
  > > [In the Beginning](Cut_split_002.html#filepos1243)
  
    
  
  I glanced up at John, who was sitting on the lounge floor trying to repair his
  electric drill. Lots of little metal bits were strewn across a sheet of old
  newspaper. Our first home together had been a DIY project, although now that
  we had been living in it since our marriage, two years previously, the worst
  was over. Most of the rooms were not only habitable but decorated, and
  although sparsely furnished, comfortable. I looked again at the social
  services advertisement, and to the small print under the main heading: Little
  Mary requires a foster home while her mother
  
  
  > > [Chapter Nine](Cut_split_002.html#filepos1243)
  
  > > [Cutter](Cut_sp