"Before we met our first client, we heard a lot about how she didn’t keep her appointments, didn’t work or go to school and was difficultto work with. My partner and I decided to approach her with as open amind as possible and let her define the issues we would work on withher. One of her goals was to leave foster care and move in with thefather of her two children. Her caseworker didn’t think she could dothis, but we decided our job was to help her work toward that goal.At our second meeting – after we had outlined all the steps she needed to take – shetold us she knew it was time to grow up. That conversation was abreakthrough because after that things slowly started to change. Sheand her boyfriend found an apartment and she and the children did movein with him. Once she moved, we noticed how much happier she was andhow much more initiative she started taking to make and keep her ownappointments. Over the course of the year we helped her apply forpublic assistance, get Early Intervention services for her son, represented her at her foster care case conference and encouraged her to find a job or enroll in G.E.D. classes. Although she still has a lot of obstacles to overcome, we ended the yearfeeling confident she had found her stride."
