Frank's Story "Since reconnecting with his family, Frank's excessive anger has tapered off..."

Our "Family Finding" program was recently featured in the "Wall Street Journal".

By the time Frank came to EMQ FamiliesFirst at age 13, he had been a foster child for three years and had lost all contact with his biological family. At age 7, his mother had left him with his alcoholic father and moved to another country. At age 10, he was sent to live in a foster home because his father could no longer take care of him. Soon he lost all contact with his father, who moved back to Mexico, and other relatives lost track of Frank.

Frank’s anger and destructive behavior resulted in his removal from one foster home after another. Finally he came to live at EMQ. The EMQ team decided to try to find Frank’s relatives, in the hope that having a family would help turn Frank’s life around.

Family Finding is a practice where extended family members are tracked down, contacted and evaluated in order to find healthy and loving people who may be able to reconnect with a child and possibly provide a permanent home for him. Frank’s only memory of his extended family was a vague memory of once staying with an uncle and aunt, but he could not remember where or when.

By using the most up-to-date search techniques, the social worker was able to find eight of Frank’s relatives: two aunts and one cousin in the San Jose area, a cousin in Fresno and an aunt and uncle and two cousins in Modesto. Two of Frank’s aunts began inviting Frank regularly for visits, and expressed interest in having Frank come to live with them.

Since reconnecting with his family, Frank’s excessive anger has tapered off and his destructive behavior has stopped. He has begun to show positive emotions much more than when he first arrived at EMQ. His behavior has improved so much he has been able to join his middle school’s soccer and track/field teams. He now talks often about his family to others at EMQ and always comes back with a smile on his face after visits with his relatives, with whom he now frequently stays overnight.

While he is still receiving therapy as a resident of EMQ’s 24/7 Intensive Family Services program, Frank’s wish is to live permanently with family and if he continues to improve at the same pace, his EMQ team expects he will get his wish in a few months.

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Confidentiality of EMQ children and families has been preserved
through the use of models. Some stories may be composites of multiple cases.