Child First operates an office at Family and Children’s Aid, a Connecticut-based agency that supports mental health. Child First sent the NHVRC this snippet about Tahitia and Branden and their home visiting experience:
When Tahitia learned about Child First, she admits she was skeptical. Branden had just been returned to her from foster care. He was behaving aggressively, crying, unable to sleep. “I was assuming he was scared that he was just going to be here for a visit and then be taken away again,” said Tahitia, who grew up in foster care. “It hurt me to see his pain.”
But then she got to know Courtney Sherman, mental health and developmental clinician, and Tinamarie Dawes, care coordinator, for Child First. Courtney and Tina knew about the family’s involvement with the Department of Children and Families and asked her to explain why Branden had been placed in foster care. “For me to share that it was domestic violence was hard,” she said. “I know how people are. When they hear personal things, they tend to judge.”
But she could tell by the looks on their faces that they were accepting.