Danielle was referred to Children’s Bureau after allegations by a social worker of having an unsanitary home. However, upon arriving to her home, the social worker was able to identify other needs for the family.
Danielle has two children, ages two and seven, with special needs and the family was experiencing several major losses: the loss of Danielle’s father, the loss of two family pets and Danielle’s husband separating from her while her father was in hospice. When the family came to Children’s Bureau, Danielle and her mother were still processing the events that had led up to Child Protective Services’ involvement and Danielle was hesitant to get help. However, with encouragement from the Children’s Bureau team and her mother, Danielle accepted Children’s Bureau aid. She and her family were assigned a Case Management Team were given legal services.
“Wow, there are a lot of people that can support my family.” Danielle shared. When the holiday season came and Danielle received Christmas gifts for her children through the Holiday Angel Program, she was teary-eyed when expressing the magnitude of appreciation for the support that Children’s Bureau offered her and her family. “This will help me so much,” she said, “[My children] will be extremely surprised with all the gifts!”.
Danielle soon sought support from legal services to file for divorce and request full custody of her children. Children’s Bureau connected her with the Public Law Center to file for divorce and she joined a Divorce Care Program through her church to help her through the process until she was able to access counseling. With the help of Children’s Bureau Differential Response (DR) Family Support Services, Danielle was able to cope with a difficult period and better focus on the wellbeing of her children.
The objectives of DR Family Support Services are to:
- Maintain children safely in the home
- Reduce entry into the child welfare system
- Support families in crisis
Children’s Bureau staff assessed the strengths of Danielle and her family and their needs to provide case management to coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and advocate for them.