FIS Helps Young Mother Reunite with Her Daughters

By Deborah Battle, Training and Support Coordinator (Family Intervention Services)

A young mother of two very rambunctious twin daughters, Ms. Punjabi* struggled to provide her children with the care they needed. After her children were placed into LSG's Specialized Foster Care program, Ms. Punjabi was referred to LSG's Family Intervention Services program for support. At the time of the referral, her daughters were two years old.

Initially, Ms. Punjabi was overwhelmed during her supervised visitation sessions, as her daughters were very demanding of her attention. To strengthen her parenting skills, Ms. Punjabi attended two Nurturing Parenting Programs class sessions. Since she was on track to have her daughters return to her care, she was instead referred to the SafeCare program, a home visitation program that teaches parents about health, problem solving, communication, home safety, and more.

Throughout her time with FIS, Ms. Punjabi was cooperative, compliant, and actively participated in all activities. She completed any assignments given and eagerly presented them. She accepted corrective feedback and asked questions when she didn't understand something. During her supervised visitation sessions, she applied the lessons learned in SafeCare and accepted coaching from LSG staff. Due to her hard work. Ms. Punjabi successfully completed the SafeCare program in August 2014 and her daughters were returned to her shortly afterwards.

After successful demonstrating her knowledge and continued use of these skills at her three month follow-up, Ms. Punjabi reported that she was grateful for her experience with FIS. She stated that she has learned to take better care of her children and to protect them from harm. SafeCare and FIS helped her understand that she needed to learn more in order to be a better parent. Ms. Punjabi reports that she still uses the knowledge and skills she gained in the FIS program, especially when her daughters are ill. She is able to refer to  the SafeCare Health Manual and uses the Health Recording Chart tool on occasion.

Ms. Punjabi has had her children back in her custody for over six months. The girls are thriving and now attending pre-school. We wish Ms. Punjabi and her daughters continued success in the future.

*Name has been changed to protect client confidentiality.