Children's of WI - Strong Start Home Visitation
Kevin and Sarah’s family found their way to the Strong Start program through CPS during a deeply challenging time in their lives. Both parents were struggling with addiction and the effects of past domestic violence, and as a result, their young son Jamie had to be placed out of the home. Despite this, Jamie was meeting his developmental milestones, even as the chaos between Kevin and Sarah made it difficult for them to provide the loving and nurturing environment he needed.
This chaos started to impact their visits because supervised visitation workers were not able to be safely present in the home. The home visitor was able to build strong relationships with both Kevin and Sarah and they both opened up to her about their needs, not just as parents, but as individuals who had their own significant barriers to fully parenting Jamie. In private, the home visitor had heartfelt conversations and helped Kevin and Sarah look inward and recognize the strength they already carried. With the encouragement and gentle guidance, Sarah made the courageous decision to enter in-patient rehab, while Kevin began therapy and committed to a 12-step recovery program.
With the support of the home visitor and their own hard work, Kevin has been able to re-engage with supervised visits for Jamie and has shown so much growth and consistency in his recovery that he is now on-track to be fully reunited with Jamie in the next few months. Both Kevin and Sarah have expressed immense gratitude for the home visitor’s support and skillful listening, providing them with perspectives and tools to improve their outlook on their future ability to be a family with Jamie.