FAMILY FINDING is an intensive relative search model with the ultimate goals of achieving permanency and supporting enduring family connections for children in the foster care system.  Lane County, DHS, and A Family For Every Child have joined together and have created a program we believe will make a difference in the lives of local foster children.

The FAMILY FINDING model was originally designated to target children who have been in foster care for many years and who have lost contact with family members and other significant adults in their lives.  The Lane County FAMILY FINDING evaluation will randomly assign children who are just entering foster care and in the beginning stages of the court dependency process to receive family-finding services. 

 

  Kari is an almost 21 year old who came into foster care when she was ten years old. Her mother had died when she was eight due to alcoholism and she lived with her older brother before being placed in foster care due to her high needs. Her mother had never known who Kari's father was. Kari is currently living in an adult foster home as she is developmentally delayed and needs supervision and aid with daily tasks. 
 
Kari's caseworker referred her for family finding as she was about to age out of DHS' care and she wanted Kari to be reconnected with some family supports. I looked through the file and got all the family information I could. I then continued with internet searching for those family members's most recent contact information and started making calls. I was able to leave messages with an aunt of Kari's but didn't hear back after multiple calls. I finally talked with Kari's older brother Jim who had taken care of Kari when she was younger before asking for help from the state due to her needs. Jim had thought of Kari constantly over the years but did not know how to find her. He saved all kinds of pictures for her and knew one day someone would call him about her. He actually had seen her at the local community college where he was taking classes but didn't know how to approach her or if she would remember him. He was very excited about the possibility of seeing her and was up for whatever it took. He had placed Kari in the state's custody when she was younger as he needed help with her behaviors but due to the possibility for Kari to be adopted, contact was halted. Kari ended up not being adopted and had been living in permanent foster care. Jim gave me extended family member's names and told me he was married with two young boys of his own. I asked him if he would be willing to drop of some pictures of him and his family now and some pictures of him and Kari when she was little. He stated that would be no problem and dropped off about seven pictures, one of which was of him and his family now.
 
When I met Kari she was just graduating from her school program and starting to work at a local community college's recycling center. I introduced myself as someone who finds families and explained her caseworker had wanted me to find some of Kari's family. I told Kari I had talked with her older brother Jim.  Kari paused and repeated his name a couple of times before shouting "Jimmy?! You found Jimmy?!"
 
Kari started jumping up and down, crying and talked about how much she loved him and how sad she was when she was told they couldn't see each other anymore because she was going to be adopted. She was worried Jim would be upset she was adopted and her caseworker and I explained that the adoption was never finalized. I then told Kari I had some pictures for her and told her what a cute baby she was. Kari stared at each picture for minutes on end, absorbing all the details and pointing out people she recognized and asking questions. I asked her if she had ever seen pictures of herself as a baby or little girl and she shook her head no, still entranced with the photos. I told her about Jim and how he had been waiting for someone to contact him as he didn't know where she lived. Kari immediately asked for a piece of paper and sat down and carefully wrote out her entire name with her address and phone numbers, ending it with "I love you."
 
Kari went on to talk about how she never really felt like she belonged with any of the families that she lived with and always wondered what family she had out there. I brought it to her attention she was also an aunt and she flopped down on her bed amazed.
 
Kari talked of how hard it was to have adults make decisions in her life when she was younger that she didn't have any control over. She has lots of questions about her mom and her other family that she was excited to ask her brother about. I let her know she got to make some decisions in her life now and I wanted it to be up to her if she saw her brother. She thought about it and said she definitely wanted to see him. I let Kari know she was able to decide where she wanted this to happen and I wanted her to think about it and I would get back to her. Kari's caseworker also let Kari know she would be getting a counselor because this would naturally bring up lots of good and bad feelings and Kari needed someone to talk to about it. Kari was very excited about everything and as we got ready to leave, came up to hug me and put me into a long squeeze, saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you" before sitting down to examine the pictures again.

 

September
2008

Temple Beth Israel
Cornerstone Cafe and Bakery
Grand Slam U.S.A.
Gateway Mall
Valley River Center
Friendly Street Market
Oakway Center
T-Caps
1310 Coburg Rd. Suite 10 Eugene, Oregon 97401 Web Site T-CAPS.org
Eugene Airport
5th Street Market
SYMANTEC

~Smaller Venues~

Rays Food Center--Creswell
Creswell Community Center
Creswell Library
Siuslaw Valley Bank - Creswell
SOFCU - Creswell
Iron Works Gym
Dennys in Glenwood
Lakeside Clinic

Siuslaw Valley Bank~ Pleasant Hill

Cottage Grove Community Center
Bookmine-Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove Hospital

Dr. Dave Matthews DMD - Eugene
Summitt Bank - Eugene
Arbor South Architecture - Eugene
Precision Classics and Collision - Eugene
Pacific Auto - Eugene
Reflections - Eugene