could-it-be-better

[could-it-be-better]

Could foster care ever be great?

From the little that I have heard, the general perception of growing up in the foster system is less than stellar and tend to have more challenges than those not within it. There are higher instances of health issues and transitioning out of foster care and into adulthood can be more challenging.

I'm wondering what it would take to not only bring being raised in the system a better experience but also potentially even make it even exceed the alternatives (might as well aim high). There are cultures where the village raises the children but foster care seems like the opposite, the few raising an abundance.

Does anyone have opinions on this? Can someone with experience share their knowledge and thoughts?

[could-it-be-better]

Is YES/NO polls insufficient?

I had been thinking about how propositions we vote on are always every just agree or disagree. What if you agree with the end goal but not with the way it's attempting to be achieved? If you vote no on something there's no guarantee that the proposition will come around again with another strategy to reach it. I wonder if it would be beneficial if the people had a little more options to be part of the decision making aspect. Perhaps a "Yes, with option A" "Yes, with option B" "Yes, but not with the proposed options" and "No."

[could-it-be-better]

Online Voting needs to be a thing.

Believe it or not, voting accessibility is still an issue. Voting by mail is a great step but online voting is really something that should exist in the States.

I bet the first argument against this is, what about hackers? Well hold on a second let me go over some stuff.

First of all, think how much better the experience could be. Pull out an app or visit the website and see all the options and information about everything you're voting on, including description blurbs and what political figures support which ideas and having a synopsis of each proposition right in the same page. Make selections ahead of them and then review them before it's time to submit. There is so much opportunity to give voters all the information they need to actually make an informed decision rather than guessing as to what certain proposals actually are about (because typically the summaries an ballots are not enough and not everyone researches every proposal).

As for the security aspect, submitting the form can be restricted to having to be from an IP address within your registered home of residence. Internet providers have IP address that can be traced back to the geographical location. Furthermore, when logging into your voting portal, not only does it require the standard name and address to register, you would also need your voter ID which is on your ballot. If that's good enough for the mail in ballot tracking it should be good enough for the virtual on as well, and another form of identification.

Finally, voting in person should always override any submitted online ballots. A final measure of security that should help give people who prefer to vote in person peace of mind.