Anthony and Adrian
10 and 6 years old
Anthony is eager to please, likes to help and wants to do well and make adults proud. He is polite and it is apparent through dealings with Anthony that he desires meaningful relationships with adults, as well as peers. Anthony enjoys school and loves spending time with his brothers. His foster parents say that he follows directions easily, is always willing to do jobs and will ask if there is anything else that they need done before going to play.
Adrian is a generally happy child and is always eager to please and help others. He is loving, adaptable, and affectionate. He is very active and enjoys basketball, playing games, going to the park, and loves helping with laundry. He is a very adventurous child and loves attention from adults as well as children. Adrian likes to tell jokes and is very inquisitive, always asking questions. Foster parents state that he always wants to know why, how, when, and what. They feel that he is a joy to be with and is always smiling.
The brothers will benefit greatly from a stable, permanent placement in an environment that can provide predictable routine, support and affection. Their permanent caretakers, regardless of their skill level, will likely need assistance from professionals (at least periodically) in raising them. In general, both children need highly skilled caretakers who display patience and understanding while also maintaining clear and consistent boundaries and rules. It is imperative that the caretakers understand how to enforce rules and implement consequences (positive and negative) in a matter-of-fact manner, without emotional reactions or value judgments.
Russell
10 years old
Russell is an engaging child that is both humorous and talkative. Russell loves to skateboard, play basketball, ride his bike, play the guitar, play with action figures, and make up games that he can play with his peers. Russell enjoys seeing other people happy. Russell is also a very talented artist!
Russell has missed quite a bit of school and is therefore not at grade level, but he has made improvements and is catching up. He is academically behind mainly because of missing school and not because of his level of functioning. Russell's biggest areas of struggle are with reading and writing, but he is quite good at math and enjoys it. Russell is not currently in a mainstream school.
Russell has six siblings, and has supervised contact with some. While it is not appropriate for Russell to be placed with any of his siblings, it is important for Russell to maintain a connection and relationship with them. Russell currently has therapeutic phone visits with his mother. Russell has many extended family members that he occasionally receives cards and letters from throughout the year. Russell also has grandparents in Oregon that he keeps in contact with. Russell strongly identifies with his biological family, and it will be important and beneficial for him to keep a connection with them when he gets adopted.
Russell does not like to be alone and also has a history of difficulties sleeping. Russell is learning how to play well with others and let other children take the lead. He has grown significantly in terms of social skills.
Russell has an entire team behind him helping him to be successful in the community. He has a CASA who visits him regularly as well as various skills trainers who take him out of the home in the afternoons.
Shania and Kayce
5 and 3 years old
Don't let their tiny frames fool you, siblings Shania and Kayce can fill even the largest of rooms with their energy, enthusiasm, and grandiose personalities! Both unusually small for their ages, Shania and Kayce get to enjoy daily diets padded with butter, cream, meat, pastries, and anything else that will put big calories in their bellies and healthy meat on their bones---perhaps this is why they are so spirited! They are busy little children who are on the move from one activity to the next from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep with little tolerance for boredom.
Shania has a wide range of favorite activities--including swinging, running, riding on riding toys, dress up, and pretending with her dollhouse and play kitchen--but she's very selective about which activity she wants to do at any one moment. She is specific and firm in her ideas of how she wants her day to go, and she is not always flexible if there is deviation. In her quieter moments, Shania is a snuggle-bug who loves to curl up in her foster mom's lap and read stories. She and her brother are very affectionate and respond very well to lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles.
Kayce favors activities that keep him running and climbing, whether indoors or outdoors. He is strong, particularly given his small stature, and often looks like a ''bull in a china shop'' as he fearlessly explores his environment. He and Shania have a sweet relationship in that they are very aware that they ''belong'' together in a way that is different from the other children living in their home. Shania proudly states ''This is my brother!'' but she is just as likely to mischievously bonk him over the head with a toy as gently and lovingly kiss him.
These darling children deserve to have a nurturing, committed family to call their own. They have experienced significant neglect, loss, and emotional trauma in their short lives and are currently at optimal ages to truly bond and flourish in a stable, permanent environment. Given their medical and behavioral challenges, it would be ideal to find a family with some parenting experience in both the medical and behavioral arenas.
Arguably, Shania and Kayce have not yet had an opportunity to demonstrate their most delightful qualities, the discovery of which is bound to be a rewarding journey.
Jerome
7 years old
Jerome is excited and usually always seen in a happy mood with a smile on his face. Jerome's communication continues to be limited, he is mostly non-verbal but communicates openly through hand signals. He is very social.
Jerome likes watching the Food Network channel.
Jerome needs a family that is there to meet all of his specific needs. Jerome would thrive in any home in which he is shown love and attention. Jerome would do well in a house with other children.
Jerome has 3-4 visits with his biological family throughout the year. He is emotionally attached to his previous foster home, which he was in from birth to six years old. He moved recently from the home due to concerns for the foster placement.
