Urgent Need for a Caseworker to Serve Birth Moms

The tribe could mandate that the child be placed with a family on the reservation. If so, the birth mother doesn’t have the choice to place her child outside of the tribe. She would need to parent or place her child with a Native American family. Tonya was of Native American heritage, and her tribe was positioned to intervene, but she had already fallen in love with one of our waiting adoptive families.

Tonya’s baby was placed in cradle care while a resolution was sought. But the foster mother was noticing some special health issues with the baby. So Colorado Christian Services proactively got her the treatment she needed. The tribe was notified that the baby was likely going to be blind and possibly not walk for years.

The adoptive family Tonya had chosen then informed the agency that they had some Native American heritage and that they would love and accept the child with all her medical issues. We prayed that the Lord would protect this baby and allow Tonya’s adoption plan to go through. Colorado Christian Services contacted the tribal representative and they approved the placement.

But the miracle had only just begun. Nine months later, the medical issues that had been diagnosed through a multidisciplinary team at Children’s Hospital had resolved. The baby girl’s vision was restored, and she was already walking.

Meanwhile, the phone was ringing with parents hoping to adopt and signing up for our programming. And sure enough, in our next Adoptive Parent training seminar, there sat a precious family that lived in the South on a big farm, with lots of acreage.

And that’s the family Bev wanted. And now her sweet baby lives on a beautiful, big ranch with two loving parents. We are always awestruck by how God provides the exact family, for the exact right baby, making the perfect birth mom match.

First, I make sure she’s in a safe place, that her medical needs are met, that she’s not hungry . . . I make sure her basic needs are met.

Then, I encourage her to set an appointment to meet with me. We talk through her options — what she feels is best for her baby, because at Colorado Christian Services she gets to make all the decisions. It’s our job to just walk alongside her as she is making the most difficult decisions she will ever have to make.

If parenting is her choice, we can help her build that infrastructure so she can be the best parent that she can be. We have great relationships with various community organizations that can help her be successful.

But if she’s thinking adoption is the best thing for her, then we talk about what she is hoping for in an adoptive family. Does she envision a big family? Does she want her child to be the first child in the family? It seems God always provides the right family.

I take time to see if she feels confident, comfortable, and ready to move forward. We then start the process of selecting an adoptive family by having her look through our materials featuring parents wanting to adopt. From there, we’ll let her meet the family so that she can get more connected and feel comfortable.

Of course, all along the way, we make sure she knows that she’s absolutely able to change her mind. We will support her no matter what her decision is. And, no matter what, we continue the counseling process with her along the way.

Then we talk about the plans for delivery . . . what would she like to have happen in the hospital? Would she like the family to be there? Would she like to have her mom there for support? She decides it all.

The birth mom decides whether the baby will bunk in with the adoptive family while in the hospital or stay with her so they can have alone time before discharge. We let her guide the process and we advocate for her, come alongside her and support her as she’s making all these decisions.

It’s really wonderful how close relationships develop between the birth mom and the adoptive family. We advocate for openness. It is very important for everyone involved. You can never have too many people loving the child, right?

One thing is for sure — you’ve got to love people in order to be successful in this job and you need to understand the big picture. We have an incredibly important role as caseworkers; a lot of responsibility falls on our shoulders. We must think on our feet and put into action the training and supervision we’ve had.

We show our love for Jesus by loving our birth moms.