Adoption goes through just under Christmas deadline

Lianca Wilson has been in foster care since she lost her mother in a tragic car wreck when she was 11. Since then, she's just wanted to be part of a family, to feel like someone's daughter.

Each year, the likelihood of achieving her dream seemed less likely, but Lianca had faith and kept praying. When she turns 18 on Christmas Day, she would officially "age out" and no longer be eligible for adoption. Her birthday easily could have been the end of a long-held hope.

It won't be.

In May, Lianca, who had been living with a family in Epps, opted not to go on a trip to Disney World. She had been before and didn't want to go again. Instead, she stayed with another foster family who lives in Tallulah — a process known as respite foster care.

Vernice Wright Carter already had six children.

She fell in love with Lianca.

Read more: Want to transform lives? Be a foster parent | Monroe man saved by 'miracle'

When she came in the door the first time, Vernice said, Lianca was quiet. At 13, Lianca had leukemia. It caused her to have three back-to-back strokes, and she dealt with seizures. She had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat, "like a newborn," she said. She's been in remission for several years, but the cancer has lingering effects. Her short-term memory is affected, and she can lose her train of thought easily.

Vernice didn't really hear Lianca on the first day until her oldest daughter connected with the teen. After that, Vernice said, she just opened up.

"She just took my heart when she came in," Vernice said. "And when she left, she was moody, and I was crying and stuff, and I gave her my number to get in touch with me, but I hadn't heard from her. I was laying on my couch crying."

A social services worker called to ask about how long Vernice had kept Lianca and two other respite children.

"And she was calling to ask me about that, and I say, 'It's a baby y'all got. I want that baby,' and she say, 'What baby?' ... I say 'It's the girl I kept.' I say 'LiLi,' and she say 'Lianca Wilson?' I said, 'That's that baby!' I say 'Please tell me how I can get that baby.'"

When Vernice said she wanted to permanently adopt Lianca,  the Department of Children and Family Services started working quickly. A child must live with a foster family for six months before he or she can be adopted, so the deadline was tight.

"They made it happen," Vernice said.

Lianca's adoption was finalized Dec. 15.

"It's just a miracle," Lianca said. "Like, really, it is."

A growing family

Vernice's other six children —  three girls and three boys, ranging in ages from 5 to 18 — include: her biological daughter, a nephew who has lived with her since birth and four legally adopted relatives. The four were relatives' children who went into the foster system.

"I really wasn't expecting all this here, but there was my family, and it's hard to let your relatives be in the system, raised by strangers and stuff. ... It was just hard for me to let my family go in the system without stepping up to get them," Vernice said.

She grew up in a large family and always wanted to have one of her own.

"I only had two kids. My first boy died after living a day and a half, and I had my daughter, and I stopped breathing on the table having her, and God wasn't ready for me yet. I always wanted a lot of kids, but I knew I couldn't have them because it was like always a complication," Vernice said.

"This is the only one, my heart just fell in love with her," Vernice said, tapping Lianca, "and I wanted her because she's a happy baby. She's a real happy baby. All she do is smile, smile. Even if something's wrong with her, you wouldn't know it because she thinks everything is funny. That's all she do is smile, and I like that in her."

Now, Vernice, said, she's looking forward to her children growing up so, eventually, she can also play with her grandchildren.

"I like this family," Lianca said. "This is a nice family. I wouldn't change the world."

Lianca's new family includes something she always wanted — an older sister.

Lianca previously stayed with a few families. Her younger biological sister was adopted by another family. Lianca has her phone number and plans to ask her biological sister's mother if they can visit. Lianca's younger brother stayed with his father's relatives and never entered foster care.

Wanda Washington, adoption supervisor for the Monroe Region of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, said they tried to find a placement together for the sisters.

"The problem we run into, and it happens all around the state, is the older the child gets, the harder they are to find an adoptive home (for.) Families just don't want the older children, so that's why when situations like this happen, we're all excited. We're throwing a party because the children —  I think they need even more support after the age of 18," she said. "How many of us was ready for adulthood at 18?"

Lianca is set to graduate in the class of 2018. She wants to go to community college and learn about phlebotomy and maybe learn about fashion or train to be a registered nurse.

"Whatever they want to do that's going to make my kids happy, that's what I want them to do, and I'm going to support them. ... I'm going to be there for them," Vernice said.

Vernice has a catering company and runs a day care. She said being able to have her family near her all the time is important, and she's working on starting a new restaurant. Ceecee Wright, 18, Vernice's biological daughter, starts culinary training in January. She cited her mother as her biggest inspiration.

Vernice said it's important to her to save money so she can help her children later in life with college costs and to get their own homes. She's also working to expand their house so everyone will have a room to return to for visits later in life.

"This is always going to be home," Vernice said.

Teens need families

There are approximately 250 foster homes in the northeastern Louisiana, Lynne Sanders, the home development supervisor with DCFS, said earlier this year, and the number of children in need of aid is increasing. In 2012, an average of 4,200 Louisiana children were in foster care each month. In 2016, that number has topped 4,700. DCFS places children from birth through age 17 in homes and in 2015, 53 percent of foster children in Louisiana were 5 or younger.

Washington said the children who were in the foster system need support past the age of 18. They need someone who cares about them to talk to them about life decisions.

People often aren't willing to adopt or foster children older than 12 or 13, Washington said, and that includes children of any race. DCFS has special recruiters who try to get older and special needs children adopted, but "it's a challenge. ... They have the mindset that they come with whole bunch of problems that you don't want to deal with."

Washington said people tend to think younger children will be easier to shape. They're excited about finding a place for Lianca.

"She'll have that home for life. You see what' I'm saying? No matter what she's going through, she'll always have that home and that mom to go back to," Washington said.

Julia Clark, a DCFS adoption specialist, said Vernice is a strong advocate for Lianca. Wanda said some of DCFS's best foster families are single parents and empty-nesters.

"Don't do it if your heart ain't in it," Vernice said of being a foster parent. "You've got to have Jesus, and you've got to have love.

"When you're dealing with foster kids, a lot of the kids have problems, and all of them got their own issues and stuff. That's why I say you've really got to have God and a love in your heart for kids because it's a handful at times. Some kids might be schizophrenic, you know, or bipolar, stuff they've inherited. ... You've just got to really have a heart for kids and love for them to deal with that because sometimes, it's just hard," Vernice said. Children, she said, can be worked with to change their attitudes and behaviors.

Lianca said there are many older children in the foster care system who want to be with someone who will love and understand them.

"Our kids are basically looking for someone to love them," Clark said.

"They want some love and acceptance," Washington said. "They want security."

Many teens who age out of the system without sources in place, Washington said, return to the families who abused them. Others end up on the streets, incarcerated or involved in sex trafficking.

Lianca said her adoption means a lot to her because it means Vernice "really wants somebody that is my age. I never thought I was going to get adopted when I turned 18 because I prayed for this for a long time. It took a long time, and I cried when I found out. I just, like, cried."

She encouraged other children in the system to have faith.

"Always pray, and never quit your dream that you want to do." Lianca said. She struggled to find the right words.

"My advice is anything is possible," Vernice said. "If it happened for her, it'll happen for anybody else."

"That's what I'm trying to say," Lianca laughed.

Follow Bonnie Bolden on Twitter @Bonnie_Bolden_ and on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1RtsEEP.

Online

Want more information on how to foster or adopt? Go to dcfs.la.gov/foster.