The Family Stability Initiative is supported through annual grants by the United Way of Greater Kansas City (UWGKC) and the Siemer Institute. The program serves families through a partnership with service providers in the Kansas City area, including Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM), which employs case managers who work with families. Participants like Star receive a year of case management followed by longer-term engagement in financial and housing stability, employment assistance and family support.
Star was a single 45-year-old woman of color who was referred to the Siemer Family Empowerment Initiative program by the Children’s Division. She was being assisted with reunification with her six children, four of whom had been removed years ago, were adopted, and then due to abuse in their adoptive home, were recommended for reunification with their biological mother.
Due to the four older children being placed in familial/foster homes in the meantime, it was determined that reunification would not occur for the older children. Star herself stated that the older children were in the best placement for them at this time. She also stated that they were healthy and happy and she had great relationships with all of them and they were very supportive of her current goals. The 2 youngest were still on track for reunification. During this time, Star was still experiencing issues with substance abuse, scheduling appointments, and life stressors. Star was enrolled in Siemer at the end of January 2022.
Stars’ ability to attend case management appointments was hampered by her substance use/misuse. At this time, Star was attempting to work part-time. The case manager assisted Star with her application for a special program Section 8 housing voucher. Her application was denied due to her having old warrants needing to be taken care of. Star began to work on these warrants and pay off the fines attached to the warrants. She had decided that her life needed to take a different turn, thus she dropped all substance misuse/abuse and began to follow through with all appointments and conditions of the court. By February of 2023, Star had one warrant left to finalize. At this time, she had obtained her forklift certification and interviewed with General Motors for a full-time position. She had taken anger management and parenting classes successfully and was on track for reunification.
In May 2023, Star was clean, had graduated from Drug Court, and was given a new application for her Section 8 voucher. Warrants were cleared, but one open-court case still kept her from obtaining the voucher. Star was able to go to court and get this last case cleared. Star was issued a voucher in August 2023. Star found housing in October 2023 and Siemer was able to pay her deposit for her to move into housing with her two young children. Star was closed at the end of October and at that time she was attending classes for Cyber Security training due to GM being on strike at the time and she needed a reliable income.
Although Star was enrolled in Siemer longer than the typical year, she eventually worked through her goals of housing, reunification with her children, employment, and stability.