(latimes.com) When social workers reunited Darlene Compton and Jontay in May, they knew she had been off crack cocaine for just six months and had a history of failed alcohol and drug recoveries. She’d engaged in prostitution, hadn’t had a regular job in 10 years and displayed a sometimes vicious temper, according to internal records and interviews.
Since 1999, they had received 13 calls from people concerned about her parenting, records show. Over the years, all five of her children either had been removed from her care by social workers or taken in by relatives.
But with Jontay, Compton was swiftly given another chance — with fewer obstacles and more services than in the past.
Upfront, the department is paying hundreds of dollars to address her many needs. It bought the bunk beds and a dresser for her son’s bedroom. It pays a child-care provider who picks up Jontay each morning shortly after dawn and drops him off at 1:30 in the afternoon. It pays the teacher who picks up Compton for parenting and anger management classes and has bought the bus pass that takes her to job training classes.
Because her son moved back in, Compton also qualified for other benefits: a $1,404 federal housing voucher, a $367 food stamp benefit and a $328 welfare check.
“I’m blessed,” Compton told her AA group that night. (more…)
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