A Family’s Journey Towards Restoration

In the spring of 2024, I received a call from a foster care supervisor asking if I had any openings in my schedule. The worker had just received a case and she wanted me to work with the parents.

I met the parents at a family team meeting in March 2024, about a month before the case was officially assigned to me. The children involved were two young children. The children had been removed from their parent’s care due to allegations of suspected abuse or neglect. Both parents were adamant that they did not harm their child and my work began.

The parents enrolled in therapy and attended all the doctor’s visits for both children. They enrolled the oldest child in speech therapy when they were told he was behind in school. The parents worked as a team to ensure that all the children’s physical and mental health needs were met.

Both parents attended all parenting classes with me and sometimes an hour of parenting time turned into two hours. At this point, the parents still had supervised visitation outside the home because they experienced setback after setback.

Recently these parents received some good news. The couple was approved, through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, for funding a car. The dad has a new job and it seems to be going really well. Both parents now have unsupervised visitation in their home. I have no word yet on when or if overnights will start but I am very hopeful. I am so proud of this family’s resilience and the fact they have never given up on the fact they are going to get their children back.

I believe I made a difference with this family by not only providing them with education and resources but by being a shoulder to cry on when their world was falling apart. I can honestly say that this case will stay with me forever.