GEORGIA: At age five, Jazmine was placed in foster care because no one knew where her father was, and her mother struggled with a substance use disorder. This marked the beginning of a turbulent decade-long journey for Jazmine. Over the next decade, she cycled through 19 different placements, never finding the stability she needed. Her trauma often manifested in outbursts, making it challenging for her to stay in any home for long. While her siblings were placed with relatives or adopted, Jazmine remained in care, where she felt isolated and abandoned.
After 11 years in foster care, Jazmine was connected with the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® (WWK) program and introduced to an adoption professional, known as a recruiter, named Kaitlyn. Armed with Connect Our Kids’ Family Connections and People Search tools, Kaitlyn traced Jazmine’s biological family, discovering relatives who had long been out of reach. Among them was Jazmine’s mother, who had since turned her life around.
After this discovery, Kaitlyn helped arrange an emotional in-person reunion. Jazmine’s mother brought along Jazmine’s siblings, braving the snow and driving hundreds of miles in the cold winter to see her daughter on Christmas. It had been ten years since they’d seen each other, but time stood still when Jazmine embraced her mother and siblings. It was the best Christmas Jazmine had ever had.
The impact of reconnecting with her family was immediate and profound. Jazmine’s aggressive behaviors and risk-taking began to decrease, and she finally had the emotional support she had long craved. By the following summer, her mother’s parental rights were reinstated, allowing Jazmine to leave foster care and live with her mother permanently.
“I knew Jazmine would never find peace until she reunited with her family,” Kaitlyn shared. “Watching her behavior improve after reconnecting with her mom was a powerful reminder of the importance of family bonds. It wasn’t just about finding a placement—it was about finding a home where she truly belonged.”
Jazmine’s journey shows the transformative power of family connections and the vital role of tools like Connect Our Kids in making these reunions possible.
Connect Our Kids is a non-profit dedicated to leveraging technology to find families, build connections, and create a community for children in the foster care system. Want to help more children like Jazmine? You can today by donating HERE.
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