c7244

Child's name: Thomas "Dean"
Number: C7244
Birthdate: 2/94
State: Washington
Listed: January 2009, Updated 9/09

Photographs by Yuen Lui

If you have completed an adoption homestudy and would like to have your information forwarded to this child's worker, contact us.

THOMAS (2/94) is an awesome artist and writes beautiful poetry. His ability to be compassionate and endearing makes him very likeable. While Thomas can be motivated by rewards to achieve, he likes to do well for his own satisfaction, too. Developmentally on target, Thomas is a handsome boy with a clean-cut appearance and a mild demeanor. As of last fall, he was back in the public school system, where he has been doing well academically, especially in science and math. His interest in reading advanced literature has motivated him to work hard to improve his reading comprehension skills. To help him stay on track in the classroom, he has behavioral supports and very attentive supervision. Thomas is eager to become part of a permanent family that will claim him as their own.

Legally free, Thomas came into foster care in September 1996. Thomas is currently living in group care where he is doing well. His previous foster parent of six years loves Thomas, but she is the permanent parent for another child who has exceptional medical needs, and she is not able to give Thomas the level of parenting, guidance, and supervision that he needs.

While Thomas is not participating in counseling at this time, it is strongly recommended that his adoptive folk(s) participate in family counseling with him during his transition into his new home. The separation from his last foster mother and his renewed interest in his birth family have rekindled his feelings of loss and abandonment. Thomas may benefit, too, from extended counseling and from having opportunities to learn behavioral tools and strategies to help him better manage his symptoms of attention difficulties and high energy that include impulsiveness and mood swings. Medication therapy is helping Thomas to manage his behavioral challenges. Thomas does best when he has a safety plan in place at home and at school with very attentive adult supervision, and his parents, teachers, and counselors use similar approaches in their interactions with him.

Thomas’ social worker wants to hear from couples and from single moms and dads who have strong support systems of family, friends, and community resources, and who have the desire, ability, skills, and the time to supervise and to successfully parent this terrific teenager into adulthood. Thomas should be the youngest child in his adoptive family.

Subsidy and Purchase of Service may be available.

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