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The surprise ending to a foster kid's plea for adoption

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Hard to imagine, seeing him now. But Davion Only, a 17-year-old foster kid, was once a media darling. It happened a couple years ago when Davion stood up at a church service in St. Petersburg, Florida and asked for anyone to adopt him.

After his speech at church, Davion was invited to "The View," and "ABC World News" made him "Person of the Week." All of a sudden, this child no one wanted before became the most sought after kid in the foster system.

In its coverage "The View" called it: "An unprecedented movement that's spreading so quickly it's being called the 'Davion Effect.'"

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Davion Only pleads for a family inside a Florida church in 2013 Melissa Lyttle, ZUMAPRESS.com

All those calls came to Eckerd, a private company contracted for child welfare services in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. There were so many calls -- about 10,000 -- Eckerd had to set-up a phone bank just to handle them all. But in the end, this so called "Davion Effect," had no effect on Davion.

"It's a broken system. We have to fix it," said Connie Going, who used to work for Eckerd and was Davion's caseworker for years. "He's a lovable, lovable kid."

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Connie Going CBS News

Connie says Eckerd did place him once, about a year ago, but Davion acted-out and got returned. Eckerd would not comment further on camera, but in a written statement said: "Adopting a child is a permanent decision and absolutely cannot be rushed."

Davion, who has been in the system all his life, can't understand that.

"That's all I've been doing, I've been waiting on somebody," said Davion. "I wasn't relying on anyone else."

After he was returned from the family that adopted him, Davion said at first he didn't want to have another family.

"But then I kind of started still wanting it, like I still wanted a family," said Davion.

So again, Davion took matters into his own hands. This time with a single phone call to the last person he truly trusted.

"You're a very special person in this world," said Connie to Davion. "Thank you for letting me be your mom. I'm just honored.

This week his old caseworker, Connie Going, said "yes" and adopted him.

"I want every child to know that there's somebody who doesn't give up on them," said Connie.

Davion now has two new sisters and a brother as well.

"I don't think when you find a family and it's real, I don't think you can put it to words," said Davion.

So, we'll just let the picture below speak.

To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, e-mail us.

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Connie Going, left, with her newly adopted son, Davion Only CBS News
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