Colorado celebrates families that have reunified after child welfare intervention
June is National Reunification Month, which celebrates the safe and successful reunification of children living in foster care with their biological parents. The majority of child welfare cases in Colorado do end in the children being returned to their parents. Recently, several state agencies and organizations came together for a Reunification Celebration.
"We really want to honor not just the parents, but the practitioners who are working so hard to make sure that families get what they need to be successful," said Melissa Thompson, Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Respondent Parents' Counsel.
ORPC operates within the Colorado Judicial Branch. Since 2016, it has been providing lawyers to parents who are involved with child welfare.
"We have about 275 lawyers across the state of Colorado who are walking alongside parents as they go through one of the most difficult times of their lives," Thompson explained.
The Reunification Celebration brings together a lot of the stakeholders in a child welfare case including ORPC, Colorado Department of Human Services, Colorado Office of the Child's Representative, CASA, and the Court Improvement Program. Four parents and parent advocates were honored during the celebration.
"Kids do the best when they stay within their families and within their communities and they can do so safely...they do better," Thompson said.
Molly Ryan KillsEnemy was among the award winners. KillsEnemy is a parent advocate in ORPC. She makes sure the Indian Child Welfare Act is implemented in cases involving Native American families.
"I think it's just really important to keep the Native child with that family, and if they can't be with that family then within their own community, within their own bloodlines," KillsEnemy told CBS News Colorado.
KillsEnemy draws on her own experiences for her work. When she was a child, she was adopted away from her tribe. That resulted in a struggle with addiction and ultimately intervention by child welfare on behalf of her own children.
"I grieved almost my whole life being removed from my culture and my bloodlines," she explained.
KillsEnemy's road to recovery was long and lonely. The trauma of separation led to the death of one of her children. But the day of the Reunification Celebration, KillsEnemy was surrounded by her remaining children and was celebrating the support that she is able to give to other families.
"It's an awesome feeling," she said. "I'm doing for them what i wanted for myself."
She's providing the help they need to create the safety and security that every child deserves from their family.
LINK: Wednesday's Child on CBS Colorado
Parents who have reunified with their children can continue to get help through the Family Support Services offered by Raise the Future. For more information about those services call (303) 755-4756 or (800) 451-5246 or go to the Raise the Future website.
