A Mother and Son find Support
“While working as a Family Support Specialist with the Another Road to Safety Program, I’ve had the privilege of helping families navigate their path to success. I want to share a case that is very near to my heart. The family consisted of a single mother (“Jasmine”) and her two sons. Jasmine and her oldest son had experienced horrible trauma. Her own traumatic stress limited her ability to be there for her son. She needed help getting therapy for both of them.
“I met with Jasmine every week, providing emotional support and assistance as she went through the County’s Behavioral Health Care intake process. Many emotions came up for her during this process, and at first, she had a hard time trusting the therapist. I told her, “I’ve been through something very similar, and I will be by your side to get you through this.” I helped her find her voice and build trust with the therapist, and soon she had a place to heal a lifetime of buried pain. Eventually Jasmine and her son were using these mental health supports to heal the pain they’d been through together.
“One step led to the next, and some weeks later, Jasmine told me that her son was seeing a psychiatrist and that it was going well. The doctor completed a 3-month therapeutic assessment that helped identify more opportunities for the child to get the help he needed.
“From the time I first met with Jasmine until the end was a complete turnaround. Being able to see this family’s life improve with every weekly meeting was a constant reminder of why I love doing this work.”
- Family Support Specialist with the Another Road to Safety (ARS) program, operated under a contract with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) of Alameda County.