Advocate Story Continued

The last five months were very tumultuous for this fragile family!  The baby's mom struggled to meet all of the requirements of her case plan, and her social worker and I  experienced growing concerns. Her landlord asked her to move out of her home of four years due to late payments.  Losing her housing caused the family a variety of issues as the single mom struggled to find a new place. After coming close to being homeless, the baby's aunt helped the family find a small, two-room apartment.  However, less than a month after she moved in, the Drug Court Team decided that supported housing was a better option.  The team includes numerous professionals, an attorney, a social worker, a domestic violence expert, a representative from the Department of Alcohol and Drug Services, a mental health professional and a therapeutic housing person.  Their concerns included missed tests and failure to complete the parenting class.  Mom's ability to meet her rent obligation was also cited.

Interacting with the Drug Court team, I shared their concern that the baby received his inoculations late.  As the baby's mom had just completed her move after tremendous personal effort, she was very sad about the recommendation that she move into therapeutic housing.  At her last court hearing, she decided to accept the recommendation after admonishment from the judge.  I saw her discouraged by this difficult decision. Clearly she felt it represented a failure on her part to live independently.  Despite being overwhelmed,  she continued to meet all of the baby's immediate needs and was doing an overall good job as a mom.  When we spent time together, I affirmed her parenting and suggested small steps to achieve her goals of employment, a driver's license, visits with her older boy and her own place.  After much indecisiveness, she called me to say that she had finally resolved to accept the offer of a room in a staffed group home.  I believed the decision was concrete evidence of her willingness to do what was necessary to keep her baby.

Disappointingly, when her tests and behavior put the placement in jeopardy, mom and baby moved in briefly with a long-time babysitter and friend.  Finally, in June stability was achieved when the Drug Court team secured placement for mom and baby at House on the Hill, a residential facility located at a distance from San Jose.  Five changes of residence in five months!