"Song's" History

I have found myself with some free time tonight, so I thought I would share a little of Song's history.

I first met Song when she was placed as a foster child with a relative. That placement lasted about 2 years. I lived in a different town in the beginning, but moved near them in time to love this child. This relative began telling me of this 4 year olds behaviors. She couldn't deal with it any more. She had 2 other foster children, and Song would constantly "hurt" them. It was reported she pinched them, bit them, hit them, broke toys they got because she was jealous. The plan was for her to return to her biological parents. as this relative was nearing the end of her rope with Song, my husband and I began the process of becoming foster parents. Before we could finish our training, Song was sent home to live with her bio parents. I would see her often, walking the streets of our town with her mother. She looked horrible. She was 5, but looked like a little teenager strutting around. Her hair was always a mess. We got a call about a sibling group of 3 children who needed a placement. We decided since we had been trained and certified, maybe we could help this group of children. So, we took the placement. A month later I found out Song had been voluntarily placed again by her parents! I called her caseworker, and asked about her. She said she was doing "well", and she didn't want to move her. I told her IF she needed another placement, to please call me, that we wanted to adopt song if she became available.

The 3 kiddos we had went home a couple of months later. And then, I got a call. Song was removed from the home for making false allegations against a child in the home, had been placed in another home, and now they too were asking to have her moved. She had an evaluation and was diagnosed with PTSD, and Reactive Attachment Disorder. The caseworker was looking to place her again, remembered my offer, and said if we wanted her we would have to be trained as therapeutic foster parents for another agency. We agreed, and within 2 weeks, thanks to the efforts of the agency, we were certified as therapeutic foster parents. We took Song into our home. We were the 11th placement for Song. She was 5 years old, almost 6.