Blog: Our Success Stories

Melanie entered foster care when she was eight years old in 2017. For the next two years, she was placed with several families, some of them kin. However, each placement ended when the resource family was unable to address Melanie’s emotional and mental health needs. Melanie had been neglected before entering care and required special help.

Emily* is a teenager.  In many ways, she’s like her peers. She studies for tests and does homework while navigating deeper issues like identity and fitting in. Emily deals with other complexities too, issues many of her peers don’t. She endured repeated trauma as a child and now lives in foster care.

When Brianna* was six, her mother became unable to care for her, and Brianna was placed into foster care. Her first placement didn’t last long.  When her second placement was about to end prematurely as well, Briana’s aunt Shelly* stepped forward to help.

Josephine*, Lillian*, and Calvin* are two sisters and a brother aged 12, 10, and 7. When their mother became unable to care for them, their aunt and uncle opened their home to them. It was a safer, healthier environment, a familiar one too. Still, the siblings needed help dealing with the trauma they’d endured. They received that care at Stanford Sierra Youth & Families. At Stanford Sierra, the children’s aunt and uncle were also connected with Bianca*, a kinship navigator. Kinship navigators support relative caregivers such as aunts, uncles, and grandparen

When Morgan* was in grade school, her father died unexpectedly. Not long afterwards, a friend of the family sexually abused her. In the following years, Morgan became deeply depressed. She had difficulty sleeping and began harming herself. By the time she entered high school, she was isolating from friends and family and in danger of failing out of school.

There are almost 400,000 youth in foster care in the U.S., with California being a leading state. Recent Federal legislation, designed to help families provide safe and stable homes for their children through culturally appropriate services, has contributed to the declining number of youth in care. While that number has decreased recently, data shows increased mental health challenges for youth, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.

Sacramento State University and Stanford Sierra Youth & Families (Stanford Sierra) have formed a strategic partnership for over five years. Both entities have a common vision of improving the well-being and quality of life for vulnerable youth and their families in the community. Stanford Sierra supports the entire family with professional treatment and compassionate care, so every youth has the opportunity to thrive at home, in school, and in the community.

Andrea* is a single mother. For many years, she struggled with substance use while in an abusive relationship. Andrea’s boyfriend prevented her from getting a job or making friends. He often threatened her. One day a sheriff came to the apartment, responding to a neighbor’s report about a domestic disturbance. During the visit, the sheriff removed Andrea’s daughter from her custody and placed the girl into protective care.

Conner was 11 years old when he entered foster care. He struggled emotionally as a result of the past trauma he had experienced. He was placed in a specialized foster care home because he had higher needs. He began working with Whitney, a Stanford Sierra Youth & Families’ social worker, who did whatever it took to make sure that Conner received the support and stability he needed to thrive.