Welcoming Mom home from work.
Many foster teens enter the system when family conflicts escalate to the point that no one feels safe. This was the case for Stephanie who, in July 2009, moved out of her Turtle Creek home to a group home in Mars. Two months later, she transferred to the Ward Home building on Negley Avenue in Friendship.
For Stephanie, the best parts of the Supervised Independent Living experience were 1) avoiding fights with family members, 2) receiving the tough love she needed to graduate from high school and 3) being able to buy her own groceries.
The worst parts were the rules, such as abiding by curfews, and the pressure to find, and keep, a job.
So, in late June, after eight months of living at the Friendship building, Stephanie was ready to move home. The family court judge, and her parents, agreed.
Stephanie’s current focus is looking for a job in East Pittsburgh, Turtle Creek or Monroeville. She missed the deadline to enroll in the fall semester at Community College of Allegheny County, so she plans to start nursing school in the spring.
Good luck to you, Stephanie, as you continue to progress toward adulthood.
It was tough to be away from her puppy.
