Discouraged

So I have this kid on my caseload who runs away constantly. She rarely stays more than a night or two in any foster placement, and then she just takes off with another kid or two. She has run at least twenty times, and every time I recover her I try to get her to promise she won't run again, at least until we can make a doctor's visit to check out her heart murmur and refill her prescriptions. She is fourteen and smallish (about my height) and has a young-looking face. Other people and I have talked at her till we're blue in the face about the dangers of being a small girl on the street. She always says she'll listen. Well, last night, she got raped. I spent all day today in the ER and the police station trying to take care of the crisis. At seven, I dropped her off at the last shelter that will take her back. She promised not to run, saying she was afraid of being raped again and she would stay where it's safe. At ten o'clock, I got a call from the shelter; Runaway Kid took off again. So she won't be able to go in for the rape kit in the morning, which means the odds of catching the dirtbag who did it go down dramatically. And we still can't get her to a cardiologist.

Meanwhile, Beloved Eldest Son is getting an F in science. He is back to lying about homework and just generally slacking off, despite promising me he will do his work and turn it in and tell the truth if he gets behind on work. Stepmom is getting really fed up and she and the Ex have been contemplating leaving Eldest here to go to school down here. Beloved Youngest is starting to pick up these bad habits, as well, amd has had two incidents of lying about homework and receiving low grades from not turning the work in.

I am really becoming discouraged about everything. Not sure what to do about any of it. Nothing I do makes any difference anyhow. Runaway Kid is going to end up getting killed by some psycho on the street because I can't make her want to stay in a home and follow house rules; and Beloved Eldest is going to end up washing out of the magnet school and seriously screwing up his academic future because I can't make him motivated to do his homework. With me, without me, it'll be the same.

I wish I could run away.