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...

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...

Through our Family Team Meeting (FTM) program, I met a family I would later work with for Foster Home Licensing. I was the foster care worker for this family’s previous adoptions. I was thrilled to be able to work with them again. Recently an older youth was placed in...

I made a difference in the life of a 9-year-old girl who has experienced way more trauma in her short life than many experiences in their lifetime. She also made a difference in mine. What this child experienced is unfathomable. When I first met her last year, you...

When I first met this client, she was a single mom of girls living in a temporary home. Then, she would often state that she felt her situation was hopeless and she was a horrible mom for not being able to provide a real home to her children. In the first, visit when...

When I first met my new client, we will call her Mary, I noticed her determination to succeed and make the right changes for her 4 children despite the "road blocks" with her visits.  The first family team meeting I attended, everyone praised her for how much she had...

I was introduced to this young woman last year who had an infant in foster care. During the first few visits, she just cuddled, fed, and changed the child and spent a lot of the time crying. This client was only able to see her child for small periods of time so when...

This young man who was nearing adulthood was very respectful and quiet at first. He seemed to have his mind made up about what he wanted to do with his life. But, at the end of 2020, things changed. When the case first appeared at my desk, the young man hoped to be...

We often meet with clients for an hour at a time usually. In most cases, that one interaction in our only connection. Other cases, we have several FTMs on the same case so we see the parties more than once. So, trying to see how I have made a difference took me some...