Canyon Acres Children and Family Successes…

Danielle's Story

Danielle was 8 years old when she was removed from her mother’s care to prevent further neglect and serious physical harm. Her father, who lived out of state, was unable to protect her due to serious health issues. After being removed from her mother, Danielle was placed in and out of several group home and foster family placements. In more than a few of those cases, it was the birth mother’s interference that caused not only the failed placement, but psychiatric hospitalization for Danielle. For Danielle’s protection, the court authorized a “no contact” order between the child and mother.

In addition to failed foster home placements, Danielle also had a failed placement with an older relative. The main problem was that Danielle often showed aggressive behavior towards her younger nieces and nephews in the home and also acted-out quite severely with others. Her behavior also affected her school performance as she ditched school and fell behind in classes. Many people felt that she would need a locked placement out-of-state in order to meet her serious educational and emotional needs. But, Danielle had a Social Worker who did not give up on her and believed that Danielle’s behaviors were most likely a result of feeling extremely confused and alone in dealing with everything that had happened to her. The Social Worker felt that Danielle needed and deserved to live in a family.

Danielle was refereed to Canyon Acres Wraparound and Creating Family Connections Programs. The Canyon Acres team immediately committed themselves to finding a foster family that could meet Danielle’s unique needs. After several months, a Canyon Acres foster family was found.

At first, Danielle was very nervous during the interview with the potential foster parents because she was scared the family would not want her. She started to act-out even more. But, the family welcomed Danielle into their home, and, happy to be out of a group home and in a real family environment, Danielle started to become hopeful, but guarded. She also found it difficult to adjust to family life after spending so much time in group homes where all her activities were planned for her. However, the foster family did not give up on Danielle, and just as important, Danielle did not give up on herself.

Danielle learned how to rely on her Canyon Acres foster family, Wrap Around team and other adults in her life (Mentor, Therapist, TBS Coach, and teachers) for support. Danielle started attending school every day and getting good grades. She went to night school in addition to regular school to catch up with her credits. With the help of her foster family and her large support team, Danielle started to feel better about herself. She made friends, lost weight, got a job through ROP, and carried herself with much more confidence. She also transitioned from special education into regular classes at school.

When her foster family had to move out of state, Danielle was well enough to move to another Canyon Acres foster family. Danielle kept up her progress during this transition. She advocated for herself so she could stay at her current school and eventually graduated on time with her class. She even attended her junior and senior proms.

Today, Danielle lives in a college dorm and is attending classes regularly. She has started to have contact with her birth family, on her terms, and she still talks with both of her foster families. She is considering a career as a nurse.