Over the past year and a half many workers have been in and out of our home to evaluate the kids and our family. We have hosted social workers, child advocates, family advocates, service coordinators, behavioral specialists, child prep workers, therapeutic support staff, mobile therapists, and the list goes on. Many nights per week were spent with workers talking through the evening. Some grew to be a part of the family.

The children were raised with so many people taking care of them. They had countless people involved in their lives and making sure they had all the services they needed. You have heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”, well there is no truer statement than that. We had a whole city in our corner. From day one, a team of people have worked hours on end to support our family. The theme of our “Gotcha Day” party was “Team Balbach” because everyone involved was part of an amazing group that brought our beautiful family together forever.

Though the workers encouraged our family, a sense of terror entered the children’s eyes every time they visited. In the past, the social workers had removed the kids from their home and taken them to strangers houses many times. The fear of being taken away again consumed the children every night a social worker stopped by. Their anxiety caused them to act out and misbehave. Our family will have to help the kids overcome this terror, it may take years to work through, but eventually we hope it subsides.

After the adoption, the frequent visits from the multitude of workers has drastically declined. Appointments with the service coordinator, behavioral specialist, and therapists continue to occur, however our family has much more time on our own. The lack of visits have allowed our family to become united and grow on our own.

I continue to be amazed at the amount of people who have made such an impact on our lives. Our family has so much to be thankful for this year. We hope the new year brings even more joy and togetherness.