Two Former Foster Kids Redefine Normal with Their Book and Helping Others (Part 3)
Chaos is normal to foster youth but with Alexis and Justin Black’s book, “Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat the Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness, and Love,” they aim to create a better life for themselves as well as show other survivors a pathway to healing and growth.
37 Connections Found for Child Who Couldn’t Speak About Her Family
OHIO: Children who enter foster care routinely have developmental delays and difficulties with focus and attention. A developmental delay occurs when a child has not reached developmental milestones expected compared to their peers of similar age. These delays can show up in the child’s speech and language, motor functions, cognitive, play and social skills.
A Father Seeks Reunification with His Son
MINNESOTA: Christopher* is a pre-teen who has been in foster care for many years. When his caseworker used Connect Our Kids’ Family Connections tool, she was able to successfully locate and contact Christopher’s biological father. Christopher’s father responded immediately. He felt strongly that his parental rights had been wrongfully terminated and he wants to reunify with his son.
Basketball Coach Adopts Former Player
OHIO: Haley* wants to be a regular kid. She doesn’t want to live in facilities with residential staff or go to court because of her family’s problems. Instead, she wants to make friends, have sleepovers, get a driver’s license and play sports at school without waiting for court approval. Haley wants to live the same kind of life that kids outside of foster care live. Haley longs for normalcy.
For Alexis Black, Education Was a Passport to a Whole New Life (Part 2)
Alexis Black has been through a lot. Alexis was six-years-old when her mother died by suicide. As if that wasn’t tragic enough, Alexis went to live with her father who would go on to abuse her in every way possible for the next 8 years. Alexis was able to escape his abuse when her friend told her mother, who then immediately called the police. Her father would go on to receive six counts of first-degree child abuse and was sentenced to a minimum of 15-25 years in prison.
Dylan Discovers Siblings He Didn’t Know He Had
MISSOURI: Seven-year-old Dylan spent two years in the foster care system. His mother was arrested on drug-related charges and child endangerment. She could not stay clean or complete the tasks needed to have him return to her.
Teen Boy Reunites with His Long-Lost Mother
OHIO: Ryan’s father was not in the picture for the first seven years of his life, but his mother was. They spent every day together and took lots of photos, and life was good until Ryan’s mother, who was young and single, went through a tough time and didn’t have the means or family to support him. With few options, she relied on a childless married couple who offered to adopt Ryan and convinced her they could give her a son a better life. They had a lovely house and loved Ryan, so it seemed like a good idea.
Once Angry, Teen is Now Open to Adoption
OHIO: Daniel* was angry and frustrated as a teenager, and his “story” was “there are no good people in my life.” He spent more than a year in foster care because everyone he knew was either in prison or suffering from mental health issues.
Teen Reunites One Week Before Aging-Out of Foster Care
NEVADA: Dakota experienced several disrupted relationships before foster care. His father had abandoned him and his mother by the time he was one. His mother remarried, but his stepfather emotionally abused him. When they tired of raising him, he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents at age nine. His grandparents taught him to sell drugs which caused his removal to foster care at age 11. He spent the next six years living in multiple foster care homes and institutions. Over the years, Dakota became more withdrawn and isolated.
After 18 Different Homes, Teen Discovers Over 50 Relatives
KANSAS/HAWAII: Iolana is a fifteen-year-old girl who entered the foster care system a year and a half ago. Tragically, she has lived in 18 different placements in this short time. For children like Iolana, abrupt and repeated disruptions in their environment and relationships can be as traumatic as the situations from which they were removed.