One Friday afternoon, as Jana was on her way to pickup her grandson from school, she received a very disturbing call. The police had come to her daughter’s apartment the night before, arrested her for drug involvement and taken her grandson, David, into the custody of Marin County’s Child Protective Services. After meeting with CPS, she was able to obtain temporary custody of David and take him home with her to Napa. She was not prepared to instantly become a mother again. David’s father was in jail and there was no one else she could turn to. She needed help and she didn’t know just how much help she needed or where to find it.
After continuing to drive David to Kindergarten for the remainder of the school year, Jana enrolled David in first grade at a Napa elementary school. Soon afterward, David began to have some very difficult issues. He became angry at home and at school. He began crying all the time, kicking Jana and even talking about killing himself. David clearly was traumatized by what had happened to him. To make matters worse, Jana’s job cut her hours from 40 a week to 10. She was at risk of being evicted.
Jana was at her wit’s end looking for help. The principal at David’s school asked, “Have you tried Cope?” Jana called Cope Family Center right away. As Napa’s First Stop for Families, Cope Family Center was able to sort through Jana’s situation and help her design a plan that would address both her and David’s needs. Jana was assigned to Julie, one of Cope’s Home Visitors. Julie immediately sat down with Jana to assess her family’s needs, set goals and access the resources Jana desperately needed.
To read more, click here: http://www.copefamilycenter.org/families/stories/12
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