Mike, age 16 and his brother, Mark age, 17 entered Homeward Bound Shelter in July of 2016 after being removed from their mother’s care. They were having trouble getting rides to school and became a truancy case for the cabinet. They were nervous upon entering the shelter, and said that they had an aunt in Ohio that wanted them and they wanted to live with her.
The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) agreed to have a home study done but were also made a referral for foster care as they were unsure if it would work out with the aunt and the time it would take to have her approved. The brothers were very nervous and it took time for them to adjust to the shelter. Within a week they were becoming more comfortable and really started to open up. The aunt who initially wanted to take the brothers was unable to take them but another aunt and uncle began showing interest.
The boys were registered to attend the local high school and were in very positive spirits. They were making good progress in their daily living and their behavior improved. A few days before school started, a foster home was found for the brothers to move to. They could stay together but would be moving three hours away from the Tri-State area where their family lived. In the meeting with their worker they were really upset by this and said “you are going to make us bad kids, you are going to make us run”. They were right, if pushed away from their support network and forced to a different home they would be more likely to runaway and be in unsafe situations.
Staff at the shelter was able to advocate for them that day and DCBS agreed they could stay at Homeward Bound until the other aunt and uncle was approved. Everyone understood that it was going to be a longer process because it was across state lines. The boys were very grateful for our intervention and committed to attending school daily. They never missed a day of school.
They received individual counseling and attended sessions with their aunt and uncle. They also began spending weekends with the aunt and uncle. Finally in December, the aunt and uncle were approved to take the boys. The brothers continued to stay at the shelter until their school semester was up so they would transfer class credits to their new school. They ended up leaving December 20th to begin their new life. It provided a warm holiday for them and also for our staff.
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