Night Road

Content warning: This section of the guide discusses child abuse and drug addiction.

By the mid-19th century, over 300,000 unhoused or neglected children roamed the streets of New York City. Charles Loring Brace saw their need and established the Children’s Aid Society in 1853. As part of this society, Loring placed thousands of children with families in other states, thus creating the Orphan Train Movement. This system ran from 1853 to the early 1890s and was designed to give children new lives and a better chance at happiness. Children were loaded onto trains, often without being informed that they were being sent to the West with the intention of placing them in adoptive homes. The movement is controversial today; it resulted in positive placements for many children but also subjected them to spectacle as they were examined by potential caregivers en route and sometimes placed in abusive homes or ostracized in their new towns. The Children’s Aid Society also established the nation’s first foster care system, which worked with birth and foster families to establish permanency for the children.

In the early 1900s, social agencies oversaw and screened potential foster families by keeping records and placing children with families based on their individual needs. The federal government eventually allowed state governments to intervene in cases of abuse or neglect, establishing the government’s role in child welfare for the first time. The government then created laws to generate funding and establish a department specifically in charge of child welfare. In 1980, the federal government passed the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which solidified federal funding and allowed courts to oversee the child welfare system. Amendments have been added since that time to increase support and resources. In 1997, the US government passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act to create stricter regulations regarding how long a child could be in foster care before adoption or reunification. Loring’s Children’s Aid Society is now called Children’s Aid and is one of the oldest and largest nonprofits focused on bettering children’s lives.

Today, there are over 400,000 children in the foster care system, ranging from infants to 21 years old in some states. The average age of a child in the system is eight, and there are more boys than girls in the system. Most of these children enter foster care after abuse, neglect, or abandonment—exemplified by Lexi’s character in Night Road—and have experienced loss or trauma. The average time that a child spends in foster care is one year. One quarter of the children in the system are adopted, and half of them are reunified with a parent or guardian. The remaining children age out of the system by turning 18 or 21 or by graduating high school, depending on the state. Children who age out of the system are at a higher risk of being unhoused, having limited education, and being unemployed. Mental and behavioral health are some of the most significant unmet needs for foster children; 80% have a mental health condition, according to the US Department of Health & Human Services. Some experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Establishing connections with birth families and relatives increases stability, reduces trauma, and helps children to develop a sense of family, belonging, and identity. Hannah demonstrates this in Night Road when Lexi goes to live with her great aunt, Eva. Before living with Eva, Lexi felt insecure and unwanted because she moved from foster family to foster family. Once she lives in a permanent environment with Eva, Lexi flourishes because she finally feels loved and cared for.

In Night Road, Hannah addresses a societal stigma against foster children. Lexi moves among foster families frequently at the novel’s beginning. She understands the stigma and prejudice that she faces, illustrated when she tells Jude about her time in foster care and when she understands if Jude doesn’t want her to be friends with Mia once Jude knows the truth. While every experience of foster care is different, Lexi’s behavior demonstrates her understanding of a stigma that many children in foster care face, making her a sympathetic character who exemplifies the problems within a complex child welfare system.