AOICWO Blog
Two changed lives
I received a referral in October of 2023 for a father and his son. At the first contact with the caseworker, I discovered the child had been in foster care, at this point, for almost 15 months. The case was originally opened due to the mother’s neglect and drug...
Persistence Pays
My job as a YIT specialist allows me to meet the youth (ages 14-23) where they are and walk with them on their journey to adulthood. One youth in our program is an 18 year old boy. When I met with him, he did not talk much, but wanted to go to the mall. We walked...
Another Adoption
I had the pleasure of being the adoption worker for a 5-year-old several years ago. This child had experienced significant abuse and neglect before coming into foster care. As a result of that trauma, she needed additional mental health treatment to help regulate...
Giving Parent as Teachers a try made all the difference
When I reached out to a new family referred to our agency for services, they responded skeptically. They indicated they "had just started a parent education program with another agency and did not see the...
I just want to do right by my grandson
I worked with a grandfather who took his grandchild in to raise him. As I worked with him, I learned the grandfather had very old school way of discipline which are frowned upon in today's age. At intake, I witnessed a situation that made me realized that there was a...
Sometimes you just need to be there.
One of my clients, a mom of three children, two of which are in foster care, has reminded me that just 'being there' can make a lot of difference. The children in foster care have had multiple issues with the foster parent that resulted in a lot of tension. One...
Caring for our children include caring for their mental health
At the end of January 2023, one of the children I work with was hospitalized due to mentalhealth concerns. The hospital was an hour drive from the office. It had been snowing for muchof the day, and was still snowing during my drive to the hospital. The only thing I...
Small step, big impact
In the FTM program we meet a family that we have not had a long relationship with and help themaddress the issues they are facing. I received a referral to facilitate an FTM for a removal for two teensfrom their father. The nature of the removal placed the teens in...
From facing homelessness to blossoming
In the summer of 2022, through a referral I had the opportunity to work with a domestic violence survivor. We will call her Mary. Mary was a single mother and one of her children has special needs. She was on the verge of homelessness but determined to change her...
Transitioning into who he was meant to be.
When you’re working with at-risk youth, you have to be able to recognize--and be proud of--thesmall achievements. My work with Liam * (*fictitious name to protect the identity of the client),gave me plenty of opportunities to practice this philosophy. He was a...