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Reunification

Today in court I recommended reunification for the first time. There are a lot of bad/sad/terrible/distressing stories I come across working child protection. This case was no different. Drugs, DV (to the point where someone was charged with attempted murder.) Lots of problems.

It wasn't the kind of case that should see success at the end necessarily. But I pushed. And the mom tried. She really did. And I pushed. And today, it all worked out. At least for today.

For today, I got to do something good for a family. And it felt really right. Every attorney in the room hugged the mom after the judge made his rulings. And she cried and cried. I held out. When I left, I thought I would but I didn't. She was still crying when I left. It was really, really moving.

It was possibly the best moment in my professional career yet. And I just thought it deserved a moment to be written about before moving on to all the other tasks/investigations/meetings/phone calls etc. of my day.

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  1. ChristinaFebruary 17, 2010 at 4:46 PM

    wow! sounds moving. thanks for taking time to write about it

    ReplyDelete
  2. Auntie JooFebruary 23, 2010 at 5:19 PM

    Cheers to you and to the mom who worked/is working her ass off to stay straight for her kids. Amazing.

    ReplyDelete

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