I Make A Difference Moment
I was assigned this PACT case back in January when I first started here at Adoption Option Inc. Child Welfare Organization. I was assigned to work with a child that was placed with their mom’s sister. Mom and her sister do not typically get along well. They always seemed to find something to feud about.
Over time, mom made such progress that she was awarded unsupervised parenting time with her child, which reduced the friction between mom and her sister. Unfortunately, dad had not progressed well and was still not allowed unsupervised visits, only supervised.
At the end of July the baby turned one. Back in June, mom called to inform me of her child’s first Birthday. Mom’s new goal was to earn unsupervised overnights by the time her baby’s first birthday occurred. Mom’s worry is that dad will not get to celebrate his baby’s birthday due to only getting 2 hours of supervised time a week. Mom advocates well for herself and talked to the Foster Care Worker about these goals during a Family Team Meeting. (FTM)
Mom called me after this FTM extremely upset that they don’t find a Baby’s 1st Birthday as important as her. I told her I would follow up. I called the Foster Care Worker to discuss this, he informed me that as long as everyone is available and can agree on a time he would approve it. I called the foster parent and asked her if we could make this happen, the foster parent was on board. So, on Friday July 31st I did a 5 hour long supervised visit with the family so they could celebrate this baby’s 1st Birthday! Mom and dad were so excited when I told them that I got approval and I could accommodate a visit for that long to allow both parents to celebrate their child’s first birthday together, that we all cried.
