Home Visiting Program Helps Mother Get Her Kids Back

“With everything that I was going through, it was nice to have someone in my home who was telling me everything was going to be OK.”

Joley enrolled in the Healthy Families America home visiting program at Child and Family Guidance Center, which supports families in the Antelope Valley area, in 2014. She had lost custody of her kids due to an abusive relationship she was in, but she was determined to get her kids back. (She tells her story in the video below.)

When LA Best Babies Network (LABBN) — an organization that supports and helps oversee home visiting programs in the Family Strengthening Network — met Joley in 2015, she had some visitation rights. She was allowed to see her children on weekends at the time. She credited, in part, the home visiting support she was receiving for that progress. Joley recalled how DCFS noticed a positive difference in her relationship with her children. “Being in the program, it also helps on the other side of the kids being in the system, because not only do I have that person to help me get through some things, they also help me become a better parent in the development of my children — and DCFS is starting to see that, ” she explained.

A year later, when LABBN met Joley again, we were welcomed by Joley and her kids, who were now back in her care. Beyond regaining custody of her children, Joley had also achieved personal goals that she once thought were out of reach. She had secured a new job, was working on getting a new car, and planned to move into a new home.

Inspired by the support she received from her home visitor Martha, Joley wanted to pay it forward. “The program helped me understand that I want to help people for the rest of my life,” she said. “Because they helped me, I want to help others.” She started working in in-home support services, helping clients get to their doctor appointments.

Joley participated in a parent panel at the 2016 Annual Family Strengthening Summit, where she shared more about her story. (Scroll down to see a video of that.) “This program has helped me realize the potential I have in myself, and I can’t thank them enough for that,” she said, reflecting on the confidence, tools, and support the program provided her.

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