When the Department of Children and Families introduced Kallie and her children, 6-year-old Josiah and 1-year-old Jazmine, to the Intercept program, an evidence-based program that does ‘whatever it takes’ to help children and parents succeed and keep families together, they were going through a lot. Kallie was a single mother, struggling financially and fighting to keep her children in her care. When her family began services, Kallie was skeptical.

“At first, I was not happy about having a stranger in my home three times a week and having to share my story with yet another provider,” Kallie said. “They were all the same – been there, done that. But Youth Villages works. I was so happy with the service and our progress that I asked if we could stay in the program even longer.”

Josiah began struggling after Jazmine was born. He went through a lot of changes – starting kindergarten, moving, having a new baby in the house and learning to share time with his mom. These changes were affecting Josiah’s happiness and his behavior.

Kallie was getting daily calls from Josiah’s school. He was physically aggressive toward teachers, would throw chairs, spit on others and threw his body all over the classroom. Because of his behavior, Josiah could only attend school two hours per day. His Youth Villages family intervention specialist, Emily, jumped into action right away. She was in contact with Josiah’s school every day and would even observe him in class. This completely changed the way the school team and Kallie could safety plan and support him.

Emily worked with the family on skill building and education around parenting. She focused on supporting Josiah in identifying and expressing his emotions, while helping him understand how emotions affect his actions. Emily also taught Kallie coping skills and calming techniques for both her and Josiah, supporting them through anything they needed. When the family struggled with transportation, Emily drove Kallie and the kids where they needed to be – school, home, the park – anytime, anywhere.

As time went on, Josiah successfully returned to full days of school where he started thriving.

“Our whole home environment shifted,” Kallie said. “It got so much calmer.”

Today, Kallie hopes for things to continue to get even better and to help Josiah be the best he can be.

“Youth Villages gave us the opportunity as a family to not just be doing OK, but to be doing great,” Kallie said. “I am so grateful to Emily, who took her job to the next level and showed my family more compassion and understanding than anyone I have ever met. She was a friend to us. She didn’t treat us like ‘just another assignment;’ she truly cared and she showed that every single day.”

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