One child at a time, award-winning care specialist changes lives for families at risk

This paid piece is sponsored by Children’s Home Society.

Katie was one of those children who had a history of slipping through the cracks.

Fortunately, that ended when Sarah Crawford, family engagement specialist for Children’s Home Society, was assigned to work with Katie’s family through the Family Engagement Services program in Rapid City.

Family Engagement Services is one of the newest prevention-focused pilot programs at Children’s Home Society of South Dakota, providing intensive case management and evidence-based interventions and support to children and families at imminent risk of system involvement.

The program includes empowering families to identify and build upon their strengths and to develop healthy relationships, parenting skills and family stability.

In this case, “when I first went into the home, Katie wasn’t necessarily receptive to me,” Crawford said. “The first thing she said to me was, ‘You’re just a social worker, bitch.’ But within six months, she was referring to me as her BFF. That’s a story that Katie and I laugh about.”

Crawford soon found that Katie’s mother needed support and help with parenting skills to manage some of the problematic behaviors that Katie showed.

“The first visit was very interesting and ended up with law enforcement being called,” she explained. “I walk into this home not knowing them at all. They don’t know who I am. And things just escalated to where Katie and Mom were fighting each other. Katie can get very aggressive. When Katie reached out and hit her mom, Mom knew to call law enforcement right away.”

Katie, age 13, had been referred to FES by the juvenile diversion program.

“She was having significant self-harm and suicidal ideation, so I had concerns about her being safe in the home environment,” Crawford said. Her advocacy helped Katie receive residential treatment while she continued to work with Katie’s mom.

When Katie returned home and transitioned back into the public school system, now in high school, she struggled. She refused to attend school and fought with her mother. Although the team considered whether Katie should return to a psychiatric residential treatment facility, they decided to maintain her status at home and continue to provide community-based services. Next, Crawford turned to the school district to advocate for Katie and helped her get into a placement that better met her needs.

“That increased her attendance,” she said. “Her mental health improved dramatically. She took pride in the fact that she hadn’t self-harmed in five months, which was really wonderful for her.”

The family “graduated” from the program when Crawford had done everything she could to help them develop the skills they needed. “It’s a great feeling. I think the best part of it is that connection and relationship that I’ve built with the family and knowing that they trust me,” she said.

“It was bittersweet when I discharged them from the program. Katie’s response was, ‘No, Sarah, you can’t leave me. Sarah, you’re divorcing me.’ I said, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I will still be here.’”

“And I do remember a couple months in, Mom saying stuff like, ‘This isn’t going to work, Sarah. Nothing’s ever going to work.’ And I just looked at her, and I said: ‘You know what? I will walk beside you until she turns 18 if that’s what it takes.’ But after about a year, she was saying things like, ‘Sarah’s the only one who has not given up on us and walked away from us.’”

Since Crawford started working with Katie, the FES program has brought on two additional employees, effectively tripling capacity. And in 2022, Crawford received the CHS Rising Star of the Year Award for her pioneering and tenacious work in the program.