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CHRYSTAL (2/99) longs to be part of a permanent family, especially a family where parents actively support, encourage, and praise children and give them affectionate hugs. Chrystal has a nice sense of humor and laughs easily. She also has a large vocabulary and is able to communicate quite well with those around her. Drawing and painting are some of her favorite activities, and Chrystal will be delighted to show you how skilled she is at playing Uno. Legally free, Chrystal came into alternative care in 2000.

Although Chrystal’s chronological age is 10, developmentally she is much like an eight or nine year old due to slight delays in her emotional, social, behavioral, and academic areas.

Chrystal has had multiple caregivers over the years and has spent much of the past two plus years in residential care. While her birth family members are not foster or adoptive resources for her, having contact with them throughout the years has become an important part of her support system. Chrystal will be counting on her adoptive family to help her maintain contact, especially with her many older siblings, following her successful adoptive placement.

Some of Chrystal’s most challenging behavioral issues are believed to be due to past trauma as well as multiple moves in foster care. With the support of her therapeutic treatment program, Chrystal is working on curbing her impulsiveness and developing behavioral tools and strategies to lessen her feelings of frustration and channel her energy in safe, healthy ways. She is also working on increasing her personal safety skills, strengthening her boundaries, and learning basic self-care and daily hygiene skills.

In school, Chrystal is benefiting from being in a small, self-contained third-grade classroom at her residential center, which provides appropriate academic and behavioral supports. Her academic functioning is pretty much at a second grade level, and she will continue to need life skills development services. Her ability to comprehend is higher when someone is reading to her than when she herself is reading. Chrystal is working well with her teacher one-on-one in this specialized environment.

While Chrystal responds well to most adults, she can still get stressed and frustrated around other children. Motivated by her desire to make friends, Chrystal is making progress through her participation in a special group program at her residential center where the focus in on learning safe, positive ways to build friendships.

Chrystal’s social worker wants to hear from highly committed couples and single moms who have a good grasp of the needs of a child with developmental delays and who have unwavering patience. Chrystal’s adoptive folk(s) need to make sure that she has the therapeutic, educational, and developmental supports she needs to reach her full potential. Having older siblings who understand her issues and could role model appropriate boundaries and social skills for her could be wonderful. Because Chrystal has had so many caregivers over the years, it is likely that she may need considerable time to trust that she finally has a permanent home and form attachments with her adoptive family.


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