A little background first. I'm a single woman, mid-fifties. Fifteen years ago, I adopted an older girl through the system. She was thirteen at the time, now is 28, with two adorable kids of her own. Despite some glitches, the experience was amazingly positive for me, and we're still close.
Two years ago, after a difficult break-up, I was saddled with a house larger than my needs, and decided to get re-certified as a foster parent. Might as well put the spare bedrooms in this house to use! Within weeks, an 11-yo girl was placed with me, one whose parents' rights had already been terminated (physical abuse and drug use the determining factors). Her most recent foster care placement did not work out, and she needed a new home fairly quickly. The caseworkers are anxious to have me adopt her, and we're on track for that in early 2014. (Her behavior was pretty erratic when she first came to live with me and has now settled down considerably).
This child has an older brother, who at the time she was placed with me was in a different foster home, north of town (I live in a fairly large metropolitan area). Things seemed to be going fairly well for him until last March, when we got the call that he'd been picked up by the local police for breaking and entering a neighbor's home. He was placed in the local juvenile detention facility, and within a few weeks moved to a low security, boot-camp-type environment fairly far outside of town.
It sounds grim, but he thrived in this environment. He gave up smoking, had no access to drugs and alcohol (which had been a problem in the past), and got in really good physical shape. After a month or so, his sister and I were allowed weekend visits, and not long after that home passes on the weekends, including overnight visits. As he no longer had any other home, my home was the one he stayed at. Staff was very friendly, both to us and also seemed to treat him well.
In mid-August, as he awaited sentencing, his progress seemed good enough that he was released into the community. The Department of Human Services (DHS) found him a spot in a group home, and he was released.
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