A real life example of Kids Central’s Family Finding Coaching: A Dependency Case Manager attempted to use her Family Finding skills to locate relatives for seven children, ages 3 to 17. The children were removed from the mother’s custody and placed in foster care due to the allegation of neglect. The mother, Mary had no support system other than her elderly mother who ultimately relocated to live with Mary’s aunts and uncles. In addition to Mary’s children being removed, she found herself homeless and in desperate need of help. The Family Finding Coach with Kids Central Incorporated heard about Mary’s current situation and was stunned to learn that Mary had no family members providing support.
The Family Finding Coach and Dependency Case Worker previously heard rumors that Mary was of no relation to the “family members” that she referred to as her “family.” After an extensive computer search failed to reveal any relatives the Family Finding Coach and Dependency Case Manager began making “cold calls” to people that might be related to Mary. After several calls a woman was located and stated she did not know Mary but it was later discovered that Mary was in fact Rebekah.
The telephone called revealed that Mary was kidnapped 37 years ago and she was in fact Rebekah. The grandmother called other family members and within two weeks 40 relatives met Mary and her kids. Mary’s new family showed her baby pictures and photos of her birth mother, who died early of illness.
The most important part of Mary’s visits was that her family showered her with love and acceptance. The family members told Mary over and over how long they had been praying that she would be located. The Family members met the children and spent hours each week driving to visitation. There were four families in three counties which immediately stated their homes be considered as a permanent, safe and loving homes for Mary’s children.
In conclusion, five of the seven children are now living with two new found family members. There was one child who desired to remain with his foster parent and the oldest child aged out in foster care. However, even after aging out there was still an entire new family to provide love and support. Unfortunately, Mary struggled in the system for several years and continued to make poor decisions and after careful consideration, Mary surrendered her parental rights. It gave Mary a feeling of comfort after meeting her biological family. According to Mary, for first time in her life, she knew her children were being cared for by family members and not in the foster care system.
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