In January 2018, we got our first placement, Violet. This was a placement that still haunts Pia and I. She was 15 years old and had a difficult time in the foster system. She came into the foster system because her parents were divorced. Mom was diagnosed with Advanced Multiple Sclerosis and was unable to care for her daughter. Dad lived in another state, and all he did was make empty promises to his daughter.
Violet was having an inappropriate relationship with someone close to the foster family she was with before coming to us. That’s how she ended up in our care. We spoke with the family she was with before. They told us that she suffered from severe depression and anxiety. We found out in that conversation that someone cut her off from her meds cold turkey. Shortly after coming to us, she went off the rails. We called social services, and they brought the authorities. She was taken to the hospital from our house.
We often look back on that situation and wonder what we could and should have done differently. We didn’t want it to end the way it did because we liked her and really wanted to help. Would we have handled it better if we had been more experienced? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
