Meet Jayla

Jayla lies in bed at night dreaming of what life will be like when her forever family finally finds her. She thinks about what it will be like to spend the day with her adopted family exploring a country town, eating a home cooked dinner of comfort food around the table with her siblings, and finally falling asleep in her own room.

Jayla’s been in foster care for 8 years. Her parents could not care for her or her sister. Her mother was an addict and her father spent his time looking after her mother. Often, her parents would leave the state together to avoid being arrested and leave the kids home alone to fend for themselves. Jayla’s grandparents either had problems of their own or, after a long history of issues, wanted nothing more to do with Jayla’s family.  

Finally, Jayla and her sister wound up in foster care to make sure they were safe. 

There were some more distant family members who thought they might be interested in adopting. Jayla’s aunt starting seeing her. Then her uncle and his wife also thought they might want to adopt Jayla. Eventually, each of those fell through for various reasons. None of which were because of Jayla. 

Eventually, Jayla became so depressed her foster parents felt they could no longer provide the care she needed and wound up in a residential treatment center. 

Finally, Jayla’s case was referred to The Way Home Adoption. Jessica, one of our caseworkers, quickly got to work. Jessica began an extensive study of Jayla’s case files and her immediate and extended family to find candidates for adoption. These efforts also led Jessica to investigate Jayla’s dad, Robert, who was working full time, had a place of his own, and appeared to have changed his life to a point where maybe reuniting Jayla with her dad was possible.

Robert has been working with CPS now for several months. He’s gotten a promotion at work, has his dad living with him, and is preparing to rent a three-bedroom home. More importantly, Robert has stayed committed to getting Jayla back. He has finished 16 CPS parenting classes and has begun individual counseling. What first started with phone calls then led to Robert and Jayla visiting one another. They are learning to trust one another, to rebuild what was lost, and to strengthen the love that was always there. 

The Way Home Adoption believes in healthy family reunification when possible, and Jayla and Robert are thriving. We are thrilled to announce that last month Jayla moved in with Robert to be a family once again. We are so proud of both of them and elated to be part of their family reunification story! 

to find out more about jayla and other youth like her, please contact INFO@THEWAYHOMEADOPTION.ORG