Humboldt Park Latino Birth Family reunited by ChildServ Foster Care
This Mother’s Day was extra special for ChildServ client, Emma. For the previous two Mother’s Days, she was struggling with personal challenges that created a home environment, according to Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), that was not safe for her sons to remain in. As with thousands of children who are at-risk of neglect or abuse in Illinois, DCFS temporarily removed the boys from their mother’s care for their safety and protection while the birth parent(s), who in this case is Emma, received the necessary help and resources to correct their situation. This is one of many cases that DCFS assigned to ChildServ to place the children in foster care.
Finding the right home to meet the child’s needs is crucial step towards mending a broken home. “Even in the best cases”, remarks Eneida Cosme who is ChildServ’s case worker, “it can be traumatic for the child to have to leave their mother to live in a different home.
Ms. Cosme, who specializes in working with Latino families requiring foster care, gives special attention to the child’s cultural and ethnic needs such as having English as a second language. The Burgos Consent Decree mandates this matching of backgrounds of the child and the foster family.
Emma’s case came to ChildServ in 1997. Ms. Cosme began working her case in August of 2008. When first she first met Emma, she was very reluctant to work with her “Ah, another one. It’s going to be the same all over again” she uttered. Her exasperated tone suggested she had been down this road before. Emma expressed her frustration, feeling as though her case was unnecessarily prolonged by previous caseworkers from other agencies, and she therefore remained hopeless to regain custody of her two children, Luis and Fernando.
In 2008, the judge decided it was best to change the goal of having the children return home to Termination of Parental Rights or TPR. This ruling created the reality that she may no longer have had the option to regain custody of her children. According to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), it is clarified that under certain circumstances “when return home is not selected as a child's permanency goal, DCFS is not required to provide further reunification services and encourages the State's Attorney to proceed with termination of parental rights or to seek private guardianship for the child.” Fortunately, after a long legal struggle, Emma and her husband were able to prove in court that their efforts were sincere, and that their main goal was to be reunited with their children. So in 2009, the judge expunged the TPR arrangement based on the parent’s commitment to comply with services.
Emma’s case was not an easy one, and it has been a bumpy ride. “She is an honest person.” States Ms. Eneida Cosme, the placement professional at ChildServ. Emma had it in her mind that Ms. Cosme would disappoint her like she had been disappointed in the past. Cosmo assured Emma from the beginning that she was going to be there to help. She stood right by the mother and never left her side until she was able to regain custody of her boys.
Emma, in her dedicated efforts to make the necessary adjustments to become a fit and nurturing mother, participated in counseling provided by ChildServ. As a result, instead of losing her temper, Emma learned to cope with the difficult tasks and complications that come along with raising children. She realized that learning to control her emotions was something she would have to work on. She longed to have her children back and was not going to let a lack of control of her emotions get in the way of that ever happening.
The case closed on August 4, 2010. “I am thankful for the professionals who worked by my side during my ups and downs”, says Emma.