Written by Melissa Cruz, Advocate Coordinator
A connection – anyone with a connection to the child is a possible placement option when a parent or someone within the child’s family is not able to care for them. This was part of a training I attended recently held by Children Services. I shared a story from one of my first experiences with this. The response to this little story was so heartfelt from the advocates attending the training that I wanted to share through writing.
One of the cases I was supervising when I first began on staff with CASA included a baby that needed a home. A boyfriend of the mother was an alleged father and as he awaited paternity results, he gave this little boy a home.
I would say most of the cases I’ve supervised have been drug related somehow. This often involves young mothers. This was one of those cases. The advocate came to a point of asking the mother’s boyfriend about his intentions if the testing showed that the child was not his biological son. This person shared that he would raise this child even if he turned out to not be his father. I’ll never forget the advocate’s face as he told me this one day leaving the courthouse. The CASA looked at me and said, “Now that’s a real man!”
A child needs permanency, not to be moved around from place to place. A child needs a family and a home where they are safe and loved.
By the time the paternity results came, it was only a bond that kept them together. The child was not this man’s son by blood. But he had his heart. This child had a home with him. They were a little family. And that’s how this case ended. Custody was granted. A connection led him home.
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