West Virginia: Cade had just turned 18 after nearly two years in a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility. Approaching discharge with no known family, he was facing homelessness and total independence without support. Aetna West Virginia’s Family Seeing Program stepped in as his situation grew more urgent.
Contact with his West Virginia Department of Health Services worker dwindled. An Aetna Family Seeing Trainer worked with Cade’s Behavioral Health Navigator to ensure he still received necessary care, then began the Family Seeing process using Connect Our Kids tools. To uncover any family history, the trainer pushed for renewed collaboration and communication with Cade’s former DOHS worker. The worker was able to provide a short list of relatives’ names on September 25th, and the search began immediately. Cross-team collaboration and communication impact youth in care and their life-long outcomes.
Through months of persistent work from Cade’s Family Seeing Trainer and cross-team collaboration, Connect Our Kids’ tools were used to identify 33 potential connections for Cade. By December, a breakthrough emerged: a biological uncle and his wife were reconnected with Cade and began talking with him right away.
For the first time in years, Cade had family—people who wanted to hear from him and support him. He didn’t spend the holidays alone. What began as a young man facing discharge with no home or connections became a story of rebuilt family ties.
Finding family out of thin air is hard using cold-calling, paper files, and lots of manpower. Connect Our Kids makes it easier through our Family Connections tool that provides one platform to do all searching, family tree building, and documenting so that child welfare professionals can focus on what they do best: creating belonging for children and youth in foster care.
Want to help more children like Cade? You can today by donating https://connectourkids.org/donate/.
*Names and any personally identifiable health information have been modified to protect privacy. All images are sourced from royalty-free or fair-use stock photo websites.
