When her middle-school-aged client no longer had transportation to school in Puyallup, Heather Mimms, a caseworker out of the Martin Luther King office in Seattle, began driving the child to and from school herself.
After being discharged from a group home and put in juvenile detention for 10 days, Mimm’s client was moved to Seattle into night-to-night placements.
Mimms soon realized her client thrived at school so she was determined to make sure her client did not miss class. While in detention, Mimms and the child’s teachers worked together to get homework to her client so she wouldn’t fall behind.
“Without family connections, school was a really positive place and really important for my client to maintain some stability,” Mimms said.
Transportation through the school district would take a long time to arrange, so Mimms, who joined DCYF in May, came up with a plan to ensure her client did not have to move to a new school. For a little over a month, Mimms and her colleagues took turns driving between Seattle and Puyallup for drop off and pick up.
“Everyone has helped out in huge ways,” Mimms pointed out. “It was a team effort.”
Last month, Mimms and the school principal were thrilled to find out that her client was accepted into a Behavioral Rehabilitation Services (BRS) home, which is close to school and provides transportation. BRS is a temporary intensive support and treatment program for children and youth with high-level complex service needs.
Assistant Secretary of Child Welfare Field Operations Kwesi Booker recognized Mimms for going above and beyond to ensure that her client maintained a connection with their community.
“Thank you for your dedication to our children, youth, and families. This is going above and beyond to ensure that this youth maintains a connection with their community,” said Booker. “Keep up the great work!”