Our teen years are hard, but they are harder for children in foster care. The trauma and abandonment children experience in foster care is compounded when these youth commit crimes that results in time spent in juvenile hall – all the more reason these children need and deserve a permanent family. But until recently, that wasn’t a possibility.
Through a partnership with the L.A. County Departments of Probation and Children and Family Services, the Alliance has finalized adoptions for five young men in the Probation system. The first of which was the first-ever in the country! These adoptions are an innovative approach to permanency planning for our most vulnerable young people. The partners in these adoptions see kids who hold tremendous promise once they are given a support system within which they can thrive.
Most recently, we completed the adoption of Ezykel nine days before his 18th birthday. Following the death of his mother, several years in foster care and two stints in juvenile hall, 17-year-old Ezykel was given a gift that didn’t seem possible: he was adopted. Godwin, a serious yet loving man, formed an unbreakable bond with Ezykel and refused to give up on him, even through trying circumstances. In the Eastlake Delinquency Court, the family became official just nine days before Ezykel’s 18th birthday.
Adoptions like Ezykel’s demonstrate the Alliance’s life changing impact on individual children’s lives. This holiday, we hope you’ll contribute what you can and be a part of creating change for children.
