Three year old Julia was referred to For The Child after her mother was shot to death by her father, who then turned the gun on himself. She was found asleep on the bed, in between the bodies of her parents.
This fatal incident was the last event in a chronic pattern of domestic violence, substance abuse, and chaotic living.
The aunt and uncle who adopted Julia wanted her to just forget what she had gone through, but her nightmares and behavior showed that her memories were sad and frightening. Working with a specially trained For The Child therapist, Julia used toys - a doll house, family figures, and police cars-to communicate through play her memories, fears and worries.
Her aunt and uncle knew she was recovering from the trauma when she began normal play with other children and stopped playing scenes of fighting, death, and loss.
They just found the rapist.
In 1996, a 13 year old girl was brutally raped behind a dumpster while walking to school. A foul smelling homeless man pulled her behind a dumpster and assaulted her. He pulled her shirt over her face so that she could not identify him.
Now, nine years later, an unexpected hit on a cold case DNA run has finally identified her offender, a serial rapist in state prison for other crimes. The girl's mother and the original detective on the case both called For The Child to ask that we provide support, treatment and advocacy during the court process for this victim, who is now an adult. Without hesitation, we said "of course." The excitement that we feel about obtaining justice in this case is tempered by the awareness that criminal proceedings could force the victim to relive painful events and to face an offender she has never actually seen before. Hopefully the support she receives will assist her in even greater healing.
8 year-old Marcus was sodomized by 9 year-old in school bathroom. Marcus was sexually abused by one of his classmates in the school bathroom – more than once. His family discovered the abuse after he began soiling himself, something he didn’t usually do. When questioned, he told them what had happened to him. His older sister brought him to the hospital as his mother was “too busy” to come. They had called the school principal, who told them to take Marcus to the emergency room. The principal, a mandated child abuse reporter, did not call the police or make a child abuse report.
For The Child’s CART team met Marcus and his aunt at the hospital. The volunteer helped them through the process, gave the aunt referrals for treatment service and gave Marcus a teddy bear to hold onto through the process. He named him “Roger.” “Roger” went home with this young man whose crisis had not ended. He was going to have to return to school after the weekend. The police would be following up with the principal.
For The Child worked with Marcus, his family and the police to help him feel safe and protected when he returned to school.
She threatened to kill herself at school.
Judy is a ten-year-old girl who was referred to For The Child's Mental Health Program because she locked herself in a bathroom stall at school and threatened to kill herself. Judy has lived in more than twenty foster homes and has been admitted to psychiatric hospitals several times for treatment of depression.
Judy was physically and sexually abused by her stepfather from the time she was a toddler until early elementary school age.
Many of her previous foster placements failed because the foster families could not handle the severity of her mental health problems. Although Judy has many challenges in her life, she has shown definite improvement during her treatment at For The Child. She uses her therapy time well to learn ways of coping with difficult memories and emotions. She was very touched at Christmas by the special gifts she received from For The Child donors, including a beautiful coat and a hand carved wood jewelry box. The best gift of all was sharing Christmas with a supportive foster family.
Two visits to Kids' Place by the time she was 11 days old.
Jan was born to a drug addicted mother.
Jan made her first visit to Kids’ Place when she was five days old. Her grandmother brought her in so she could attend a court hearing to get custody of her baby grandchild.
She returned six days later to continue the process, making Jan our youngest to be rocked to sleep in the infant section of Kids' Place.
Mike, five years old, ran the house and slugged it out at school!
Mike’s vocabulary was amazingly profane.
Mike is a five year old boy who was referred to For The Child by his school because he was physically aggressive. Mike hits his mother, his teacher, other children, and also has a staggering vocabulary of profanity for a five year old. His mother reports no history of physical abuse or exposure to family violence, making his aggressive behavior even more puzzling.
Mike and his mother began Parent Child Interaction Therapy services in February and he is already improving with this therapy method. His mother is dedicated to learning new parenting skills and strategies for managing Mike's behavior.
Brothers, aged 6 and 3, were playing outside when they agreed to help their neighbor search his apartment for the kitten.
Tom was a friend to all of the children in the apartment complex. He was also a registered sex offender, but no one knew. Sammy and Tommy were lured to his apartment with the kitten story, sexually assaulted and tied up. An intense search for the boys by law enforcement and neighbors saved their lives.