![\"Judge](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/debralwallace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/judge-bayly-for-family-court-0616.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nShe also had fertility issues and became a foster parent instead of pursuing any kind of treatment. She had stories about lice, and dirt, and wet mattresses and when she spoke it was with passion and conviction. She said they weren’t foster kids, they were kids who happened to be in foster care (language I adopted, which seriously confused some medical receptionists – “wait, your kids are in foster care??”). When for the hundredth time someone asked why kids would want to go back to their biological parents she gently said, “because they are their parents.”<\/p>\n
She got the whole thing.\u00a0 She got kids in care and the struggles they faced.\u00a0 She got biological parents and the trials they went through.\u00a0 She got foster parents and the fears that they carried.\u00a0 She saw it from every angle.<\/p>\n
I’ve never lived in her home but from the outside looking in it seems family is defined more by who needs one than any kind of standard biological relationship.<\/p>\n
Later on she went to law school to advocate for children in care.\u00a0 She worked for the DA\u2019s Office in law school and then in the County Law Department Children\u2019s Services Unit. She continued to serve as a foster parent and has been one for 19 years caring for over 80 children.<\/p>\n She recently announced that she’s running for Monroe Count Family Court Judge<\/a>. I could not imagine someone more qualified. I’ve never known anyone who pursued a passion of theirs with as much focus and conviction. She cares about kids and she cares about families. While I never want this to be a political place, I’m making this exception because she’s simply extraordinary. Judge Bayly for Family Court!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n