Canyon Acres Children and Family Successes…

Amanda

A Creating Family Connections & Wraparound Program Success Story

Sixteen year old Amanda has been in the Foster Care System since she was 3 years old. She was removed from a very abusive father many years ago. Her mother was living on the streets, homeless, hooked on drugs and prostituting herself. Child welfare agency case workers could find no other family connections for Amanda and were ready to close the file on her mother because they couldn’t locate her.

It was at this point that Amanda’s case was referred to the Canyon Acres Wraparound Program. The Wrap Team refused to give up the search for Amanda’s mother believing a connection with her mother was very important for Amanda. Our “Wraparound” and “Creating Family Connections” (CFC) teams worked together to find Amanda’s biological mother and get her the intensive help she needed.

After a six month detox program, the CFC team worked to get the mother into a home that would ready her for reunification with Amanda, when that day arrived. A structured environment was created, with support systems to make sure the new arrangements would work well.

A Parent Partner from Canyon Acres also worked with the mother on her self-esteem, fears and guilt about being an absent mother for all these years. They helped the mother discover her own strengths, and weaknesses in addition to her ability to overcome these challenges.

At the same time the Canyon Acres Team worked with Amanda to evaluate some of her strengths and weaknesses. They discovered that Amanda liked to play guitar and encouraged this interest. A family photo album was created to give Amanda a much needed sense of belonging. The foundations of family unit were being rebuilt one step at a time.

Recently, after successfully completing her treatment, the mother was ready for Amanda to come home and live with her. She was ready to take on the responsibilities of being the mother Amanda loved and needed.

Amanda is now living a much more normal teen life, going to school and learning to play her guitar. She and her mother have both regained their health and self-confidence as well as their self-respect. The Canyon Acres Teams helped a damaged mother and wounded daughter reunite and forge a new path for their family.