Foster Kid #3 ~ Dave's Home

My third foster child was placed with me in March of 1995. He was 12 years old and in middle school. Things started out pretty typically with everyone expecting reunification with his mother. However, about nine months later we suddenly lost contact with his mom. No one heard from her for several months, and then we received the terrible news that she had died. We later found out that she had been murdered in what turned out to be a drug deal gone bad. Obviously this had a profound impact on this child.

With reunification with his mother no longer possible, we explored the remaining long term options. His father was not in the picture. He had a great grandfather living further north in California, but he was too elderly to provide the needed care. He also had a grandmother in Washington state who was very interested in his well-being and had kept in constant contact. Moving in with her seemed like the best option, but this boy chose instead to stay with me. He claimed that this was because he didn’t want to leave his school and friends. So, I became his legal guardian and he lived with me until he was 19 years old.