Danny doesn't remember the first call to Child Protective Services. He was only a baby. What he learned years later was that before his first birthday, neighbors, family members, and professionals had already contacted Child Protective Services nine times, concerned about his safety and the instability surrounding him.

When Danny was 8 years old, his world changed. His mother was arrested for driving under the influence while Danny was in the car, and he was removed from her care. He remembers leaving with his belongings stuffed into garbage bags. He remembers adults crying, whispering conversations, and not understanding where he was going or why. Most of all, he remembers feeling scared and confused.

After a year and a half in foster care, Danny's mother made remarkable progress. She completed substance use treatment, secured stable housing, and engaged in therapy to address her mental health. The court determined it was safe for Danny to return home. Danny was so excited to finally go back home to his mom. Like any child, he believed this time they would get their happy ending. For a while, life was better.

Within two years, everything began to unravel. Danny's mother stopped taking her medication, lost her housing, and unsafe adults became a regular presence in their lives. Stability slowly disappeared. Danny spent much of this time without a permanent place to call home. Some nights he slept in a car with his mother. Other nights they stayed in tents or on the couches of people who were unsafe. Wherever they could find shelter, it became home. Home was no longer a place, but something he hoped for.

Everything changed the day Danny watched his mother overdose in public. Emergency responders saved her life, but Danny could not safely remain in her care.
 

At 11 years old, he entered foster care for a second time.
This time was different.

His mother never re-engaged in treatment for her substance use or mental health. After Danny was removed, he never heard from her again. No one knew where his father was. Although Danny had younger paternal siblings, but he was never given the opportunity to get to know them. No relatives were willing or able to care for him, largely because the effects of years of trauma had begun to show through his behaviors.

Today, Danny is 13 years old and has had multiple changes since entering care five years ago:

• 4 changes in placement, 4 different schools

• 3 different therapists

• 6 different caseworkers

• Services that started up, but ended due to not having enough workers, and waitlists that were years long

 

People often describe him by his behaviors instead of his experiences. They see anger but not grief. Defiance but not fear. They don't always see the little boy who spent years wondering whether his mom was alive, whether she thought about him, or whether he would ever have a family again.

Sometimes Danny wonders who he might have become if his family had received help sooner.
Sometimes he wonders what it would feel like to have one adult who never gave up on him.
Someone who answers the phone when he calls.
Someone to listen to what he wants.
Someone to help him stay connected to his siblings.
Someone to help him find a forever family.

For many children in foster care, that one consistent adult can make all the difference.