(Posted 2022 April)

In August 2019, a 10-year-old girl named Maria*,  and her two little brothers, ages 4 and 2 entered foster care. Sadly, Maria’s mother and stepfather were experiencing substance abuse and mental health issues that created an unsafe environment for the children. 

Maria, who is a vibrant, inquisitive child, had grown up in the Philippines with her mother, father, and extended family before her parents separated and her mother moved to the U.S. and remarried. 

Around the age of 8, Maria moved to the U.S. from the Philippines to live with her mother’s new family which included a stepfather and her two half-brothers. As the situation became unsafe at home, the children entered foster care where they were placed together in the first of two therapeutic foster homes. 

The Turning Point- A Sense of Belonging

In September 2020, Maria’s brothers moved out of state to live with their paternal grandparents. At that time, Maria was placed in a Fairfax County Department of Family Services’ foster home. 

For the first time, Maria shared that she felt like she was comfortable and “at home.” She felt at ease in the DFS foster home and knew that her needs would be met. 

The DFS foster parents made sure Maria stayed connected to her mother in an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, with her brothers out of state, and with her father and extended family in the Philippines where she longed to return. 

Maria was in this foster home for 10 months.

A Change in Permanency Plans

Ultimately, efforts to return Maria to her mother were unsuccessful and DFS pursued a new plan. The DFS foster care worker, Annette Blancas, began efforts to transition Maria back to her father’s custody in the Philippines.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down every part of the process including travel, home studies, and court appearances. As a result, Maria spent an additional year in foster care. 

Through it all she kept such a positive outlook. Maria never gave up hope that she could return home. She did well in school, kept connected to her local home community of Reston and her friends there, and she continued to look forward to the time when she could return home to her family in the Philippines.

Annette, the foster care worker, worked extensively with Maria’s family in the Philippines, with local travel and immigration officials, and other supports to plan for the arduous process of getting Maria home during the pandemic.

A Long Journey Home

Finally in the summer of 2021, DFS and the family were able to make plans for Maria’s aunt and uncle to travel to the U.S. to bring her home. This worked out well, because Maria’s aunt and uncle had visas that made it easier for them to travel while her father did not. 

When they arrived in the U.S., Maria’s aunt and uncle took her to see her brothers out of state one more time before returning to Manila, where they quarantined in a hotel for 10 days.

Then Maria traveled with her aunt to an island region outside of Manila to be reunited with her father, stepmother, half siblings, and extended family. After four months of successful placement with her family, Maria’s custody was returned to her father in November 2021 after more than two years in foster care. 

Thanks to the hard work of the DFS worker, the DFS foster family, support team, and the birth/extended family, Maria was able to be reunited with her family abroad and find permanency. 

 

*Name changed to protect confidentiality.

This article is provided by the Foster Care Case Carrying Unit for the Central Region of Fairfax County.

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This article posting is part of the Foster Family News monthly newsletter designed to keep foster parents informed about all the new and notable happenings in Fairfax County.

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