For most parents, losing their children is among the worst things they could imagine happening.
It certainly was for Natalya Kinder, whose children were taken by Child Protective Services (CPS) in 2013 due to a myriad of issues in Kinder’s life, including homelessness, drug use and domestic violence.
“They were the bad guys there for a minute, but they saved my life,” Kinder said of CPS.
After going through treatment and being reunited with her own kids, Kinder manages the Family Education & Support Services program in Lewis, Thurston and Mason counties to support other families working towards reunification.
“The parents work really hard, when they come into the system, and they have to overcome a lot of hurdles in their lives to reunite with their kiddos. And it takes a village, it truly does,” Kinder said Friday during a family reunification celebration held at Lintott-Alexander Park in Chehalis.
The goal of the event, Lewis County Reunification Day, was to get families together with the professionals who support them in the system to celebrate successes and inspire them going forward, according to organizers.
“What we want is successful completion to inspire and to say ‘we acknowledge the hard work it took to get here,’” said Office of Public Defense Attorney Katherine Gulmert.
Families still working toward reunification are invited to the event as well, Office of Public Defense Social Worker Kerrie Backburn said, “so they can be inspired.”
While events in Lewis County have been in place for several years, Gov. Jay Inslee recently proclaimed June 2023 as Family Reunification Month, recognizing that, “For most children in foster care, reunification with their family is the best option for a permanent and loving home,” according to Washington Courts.
A successful reunification, however, requires parents to demonstrate dedication to bettering themselves and providing a safe, happy home for their kids.
“If I told you it was easy, I would be lying,” one father said Friday, talking through how he was experiencing homelessness and struggling with substance abuse disorder when he was arrested in 2017, which led to CPS taking custody of his kids.
“Going to jail was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, as bad as it is to say that,” he said.
It took him two years to finish Lewis County Family Recovery Court and Lewis County Reunification Court programs, he said.
“I made progress, that’s what my main focus was. No matter how slow I was doing it, as long as I made progress, and that I did.”
His kids, who he now has full custody of, stood next to him Friday as he spoke.
“It was worth it,” he said.
Another parent, Crystal Dunn, said her need to have her kids back motivated her to successfully complete the requirements CPS and the state Department of Children, Youth and Families laid out for her to regain custody of her kids.
“I have really great kids and they deserve to be at home and not in the system. And even though it was hard and it was tough, probably like the worst point in our lives thus far, there were a lot of positive things that came from it … that helped us to be a better family once we were all back together,” she said Friday, holding her 2-month-old daughter while her older kids looked on.
“I can’t say this enough: this is the very best part of my job,” Judge Joely Yeager, who oversees Lewis County Family Recovery Court and Lewis County Reunification Court, said at Friday’s reunification celebration.
“It is so fulfilling to see parents just really, really struggle from the bottom and totally overcome all of these obstacles and get through this program and get their children back and see themselves and their children thrive in our community. It’s a wonderful thing to see and it makes my job worth it,” Yeager said.
Organizations and programs that provide local support to parents and kids involved in the reunification process include Reliable Enterprises, New Directions Counseling LLC, the Eugenia Center, Guardians Ad Litem and Lewis County Family Recovery Court and Lewis County Reunification Court.
“I want to thank the Lewis County community for the amazing support that they offer their parents,” Kinder said. “It comes from everyone in the community and that is very special. You cannot find that everywhere you go.”
For more information on Family Reunification Month, visit https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/index.cfm?fa=newsinfo.familyreunification.
The celebration came about a week before the Keeping Families Together Act, which raises the standard for courts to order a child be removed from the home to prevent “imminent physical harm” and mandates that at shelter care the court shall release a child to a parent unless the court finds that removal of the child is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm, goes into effect July 1. The law, HB 1227, was passed by the legislature in 2021 “in recognition that children and families are best served when children are cared for by their loved ones and in their communities,” according to Washington Courts.
More information on the law can be found online at https://www.wacita.org/hb-1227-keeping-families-together-act/.
