FACES: A New Family for Johnny

Lutheran Services of Georgia is happy to share the success story of Johnny, a 19-year-old young man in the FACES program for adults with developmental disabilities.  When Johnny was a child, he was taken from his mother’s care after it was determined that her mental health issues prevented her from being able to properly care for her child. Johnny was placed in foster care through the Division of Family and Children Services, then lived in a hospital receiving treatment for his mental health needs. After almost six years in the hospital, Johnny was approved for Medicaid-funded services. Lutheran Services of Georgia helped place Johnny in a healthy, loving home under the care of several support companions. The support companions have provided a caring, stable family life for Johnny and helped him make positive developments through new relationships and experiences. Johnny has been to Florida with his new family several times and was able to see the ocean for the first time. He has learned to prepare some food – he loves to cook on a griddle with supervision from one of his support companions. Johnny, who has had no response to contact attempts with his biological family, considers his host home family his primary family.