c7283

Child's name: Temo
Number: C7283
Birthdate: 2/96
State: Washington
Listed: February 2009, Updated 3/09

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

CUAHUTEMOC (2/960, who likes to be called “Temo,” is a very bright, loving young teen of Mexican and Caucasian heritage with some wonderful talents! He is verbal, creative and imaginative. He likes to write and loves to read (Robinson Crusoe is a favorite book). Like many of his peers, Temo enjoys listening to rap and rock music, and he possesses a fine singing voice. He also enjoys playing video games (not violent ones, he says), practicing Karate and walking the dogs. When he grows up, Temo says he would like to be an author or composer. To reach these goals, Temo will need a family who has a strong commitment to education and the skills to motivate a child who has the talent but does not yet emotional wherewithal to self-direct. Now in seventh grade, he is struggling academically and not getting assignments turned in. He honestly has the ability to learn but need lots of support. Temo’s social worker and foster parents describe him as a “terrific kid” who is well liked by most adults.

Although Temo desperately wants to belong, he cannot yet trust that anyone will stay with him through the long haul. He will need a family who will hang in there with him, especially through tough times – and there is no doubt that he will test his new parents. Having a good grasp of attachment issues will go a long way in helping his adoptive folks respond in ways that can help Temo develop trust.

If you ask Temo what he wants in a family he will tell you that he’d love to live on a farm with one or two parents who are honest with him and who treat him and any other children in the family equally. Fairness is very important to Temo. He also says he would love it if he could have an older brother. His peer relationships are reported to be good. Temo’s foster parents say he is a good helper who does his chores and keeps his room clean. He may, though, need a gentle prompt or reminder here and there.

Temo came into foster care when he was just a few months old, and was subsequently raised by a grandmother who died in 2004. He and his grandmother had strong bonds and he continues to mourn her loss. Temo has therapeutic supports in plan to help him to curb his impulsiveness and to increase his ability to focus.

Temo has four siblings and half siblings, all of whom live in fairly close proximity and are either adopted or in the process of adoption. Temo has occasional contact with his siblings and feels closest to his big sister.

Temo does best with parents who provide structure with very clear rules, expectations, limits and consistent consequences. He will also benefit from having parents who can help him continue to work through his grief over the loss of grandmother and the separation from his siblings. Temo is doing very well in his foster family where there are older children and two dogs. Any family who takes Temo should be very open to some form of continuing contact with his birth siblings (especially his older sister) and support the relationships he has built with previous foster families. In the past people important to Temo have just disappeared and he desperately needs continuity in his life. Temo needs to be the youngest child in his new home. It will be important, too, for his adoptive folks to take pride in his heritage and help him feel connected to the Mexican American community.

Subsidy and Purchase of Service may be available.

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