In thinking about success stories, the Reston Foster Care Unit wanted to share one of our reunifications of a large sibling group. This was the children’s second time in foster care so there were many challenges to face, but the family and everyone working with them never gave up and believed that reunification was possible.
When the children re-entered foster care, their mother had greater difficulty taking responsibility for her return to substance use, and it took her some time for her to fully invest in her treatment program and get sober. While she began an intensive outpatient program (IOP) almost immediately, it soon became apparent that she was continuing to use.
She also maintained contact with individuals who were unhealthy and continued using with them. Although the mother had some struggles associated with her substance use, she did sign herself into detox and began the hard work of regaining her sobriety. After successfully completing an in-patient program, she continued to build momentum and was also able to successfully complete the outpatient program.
At this point, the children’s mother decided to cut ties with individuals who were not leading healthy, sober lives and began working with her own therapist to address the core issues that interfered with her ability to remain sober. She also returned to full-time employment and worked her way up quickly to a management position.
The children’s mother and her foster care specialist developed and maintained an excellent professional rapport with each other, and the specialist was a great support to the mother, the children, and the whole extended family throughout the process.
While doing this hard work on her own individual issues, the mother visited with her children consistently and did very well to meet their own individual needs in the visits. She responded well to the services provided and enjoyed learning new techniques to improve her parenting skills.
The children were transitioned back to their mother’s home on an extended trial home visit while she continued to demonstrate her ability to care for her children, to care for herself, and to maintain her sobriety while meeting all the challenges that come with being a single parent. Everyone working with the family, including the judge, saw how successful this mother was and custody of all three children was transferred back to their mother.
One of the major strengths of the case was that the foster family found the right balance of nurturing and limits as they got to know each child and developed supportive, trusting relationships where the children felt safe and cared for. They put the children’s family at ease as they built relationships with the birth family, and they were able to see how the foster parents cared for their children. Even during the darkest times in the case, the foster parents remained hopeful that the children would reunify with their birth family.
As the family prepared for reunification the foster parents came alongside the children’s mother and shared parenting strategies they found worked well with each child, recognizing that parenting is hard, and even they don’t always get it right. When the children successfully returned home to their mother both families remained in touch, as the foster parents have built strong, caring relationships with the whole family.
This article is by Jessica Johnson, Supervisor of the Reston Foster Care Unit.
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.
Learn about what the Foster Care and Adoption program has planned for foster families - stay on top of trends, participate in trainings and learn about policy changes.