Greetings from Witness Protection devotes much attention to describing the foster care system from Nicki Demere’s point of view. She has multiple psychological issues related to her unstable home life. She’s an adept pickpocket and experiences an uncontrollable compulsion to steal whenever she’s too stressed. In addition, she can’t tolerate anyone or anything touching her hands.

While one might assume that these traits are fictional embellishments meant to add texture to the novel, they’re typical in survivors of the foster care system. Children who end up in foster care frequently come from troubled homes in which their parents are incapable of raising them. This early instability has a negative effect on the psychological development of a young child, especially in the formative years before age eight.

Approximately 437,000 children are in the US foster care system. Out-of-family care is generally intended as a temporary measure until a child can be placed in a permanent home, but statistics suggest that many children remain in the system until they age out of it (that is, until age 18). In the novel, Nicki changes homes once a year for five years. Numerous pitfalls are associated with extensive time in the foster care system.