| Cristina and Joy: Foster Care Services
Cristina came into ESS’ care as a newborn. Cristina’s
mother, Joy, age 24, initially ranted and raved at having her daughter
taken away. An ESS Case Worker dug in her heels until she found a no-nonsense
approach that clicked with Joy. Emphasizing the concrete actions that
Joy would need to take to get her baby back (drug treatment, psychiatrist
visits, group and individual therapy), a program was found where Joy
could get all these services at one site. To motivate Joy in rehab and
equip her to be a good parent, a “parent apprenticeship” model
was set up in cooperation with the relative serving as Cristina’s
foster mother. Joy went to the foster home each week so that the foster
mom could help her learn everything she needs to do for her baby: bathing,
feeding, reading stories, visiting the doctor. Joy has so triumphed
in her goals that ESS supports her petition for the next step: unsupervised
visits with her daughter. Joy has her own apartment as well as a part-time
job, and she is well on her way to turning her life around and getting
Cristina back.
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Miguel: After School Program
Miguel joined our MS302 After-School Program as a 9-year-old
fifth grader with a bad habit of talking back to authority. When he
got in trouble with the gym teacher, ESS' After- School Program Coordinator
pulled him aside and asked Miguel what was going on. “No one listens
to me. . . I just want people to listen.” A pact was made with
Miguel that if he worked on his anger, his mother would be asked not
to punish him as much at home and would assign him to the highly coveted
Cadets Unit during the after-school program’s time slot following
academic help. Cadets focuses on instilling in youth discipline, physical
fitness, and confidence—a perfect match for Miguel. After only
three weeks in the program, both Mom and teachers are thrilled at how
Miguel is interacting with others. . . and Miguel is delighted at how
people are listening to him.
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Christopher: Medical Clinics
At age two Christopher came to ESS as a special medical
needs foster child due to an allegation of parental neglect. Because
of a lack of medical supervision from birth, he suffered from three
life-threatening conditions: severe asthma, tetralogy of Fallot (a congenital
heart condition), and spina bifida (lack of fusion between vertebrae).
Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Director of ESS’ Medical Clinics, arranged
for complete medical care for Christopher, including two open heart
surgeries. To the delight of all, Christopher’s pediatric cardiologist
pronounced him medically clear, and Dr. Rodriguez and his team have
treated his spina bifida so that Christopher can run and play freely.
Now eight years old, Christopher for the first time is attending regular
school, and his caring and courageous foster family (it is not easy
to get attached to a delightful little boy who may die) has asked to
adopt both him and his older brother. Christopher is bursting with energy
as he now just begins to live and explore life. In his view, Nintendo
is about the only thing worth slowing down for.
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Elnora: A Foster Mom
At age 61 Elnora volunteered to be a kinship foster
mom to her three grandchildren when the City placed Shamia, Felicia
and Joseph, ages 4 to 11, in foster care. She was distraught that her
daughter, Ava, had turned to alcoholism and neglected these three wonderful
kids. “If I had to do it again, I would have been home more with
my girls,” Elnora sighed, thinking about Ava. When Elnora moved
from Georgia to New York in 1964 in search of work, she had to work
two jobs as a single parent raising her three daughters. It’s hard
to imagine what she could have done differently. But when her grandchildren
were placed, ESS called Elnora and she raised her hand right away to
be their foster mom. ESS led Elnora through 15 hours of kinship foster
parent training, and rarely has a more attentive and driven foster parent
been seen. With coaching from ESS’ Social Worker, Elnora made sure
the kids did their homework and made every doctor’s appointment.
ESS helped Elnora officially adopt her three grandchildren in record
time: just 20 months. Elnora then moved her kids/grand-kids to Georgia,
where she has more family. All three made honor roll last term, and
Joe, the oldest, is in the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training
Corps. “I am so very proud of my children. God has blessed us.”
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Liz: Community Homes for the Developmentally Disabled
Liz came to ESS in 1992 when the Morris Avenue Community
Residence was opened. Because ESS is exceptionally effective at helping
severely troubled, often neglected people, this new facility for Liz
and others with the difficult dual diagnosis of mental retardation and
mental illness was particularly appropriate. Her maladaptive behavior
made Liz one of the last folks awaiting a new home as her former institution
shut down. Physically strong, Liz continued to behave violently for
a long time: she threw chairs and people against walls, attacked, punched,
and tried to bite. Due to poor language skills, she couldn’t explain
what she was angry about in words the rest of us understand. So ESS
observed, looking for clues both at home and in her day program about
what upset her; based on those clues, different combinations of medications,
day programs, and psychiatrists were tried to make her better. Ten years
of small successes finally let to the right combination of psychiatrist,
meds, and day treatment program that, together with ESS staff’s
daily support, enabled Liz to make a quantum leap. After years of encouragement,
Liz now does her makeup, carries a purse, smiles at people, shakes hands,
waves, and loves going out on local shopping trips.
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Hernandez Siblings: Foster and Medical Care
Justin, Stephanie, Nelson and Brittany Hernandez entered
ESS’ care due to maternal neglect. Their father had been sent to
prison for 5 years due to drug possession, and their mother had failed
to curb her drug habit. None of the children spoke much, and when they
did it was a mixture of English and Spanish. In addition, all suffered
from some severe medical condition: eczema, psoriasis, asthma, or anemia.
While ESS worked to place all four siblings together in a Manhattan
foster home, the lead Social Worker got them language-learning evaluations
that resulted in school placements at specific schools to help them
learn faster. The Social Worker referred the two youngest kids to ESS’
Early Intervention program for therapy that reduced developmental delays.
Concurrently, ESS’ Medical Team arranged for all four children
to be treated at St. Vincent’s to make medical compliance easy
on the foster family. Brittany has not had asthma in over a year, and
Stephanie’s and Nelson’s skin conditions are healed (although
daily lotion is still important). Due to ESS’ instruction on nutrition
(children need more than fried plantains), the foster parents have helped
end the iron deficiency from which all four children suffered. Happily,
a few weeks ago the foster family officially adopted all four Hernandez
siblings into their family.
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