The Kreier Family Spotlight
Jeri and CJ have been parents for decades. They have three adult daughters and recently adopted a young boy while living in Florida. They recently became grandparents when their eldest daughter had an adorable baby boy. Then, in the summer of 2024, they unexpectedly found themselves taking on a new kind of parenting role. Jeri received a call from Child Protective Services telling them her niece and nephew, Kaylee and Levi, needed a home.
When a child experiences abuse or neglect and must be separated from their birth parents, an immediate priority for the Arms Wide team and CPS is locating a relative or significant adult in the child’s family, known as kinship care. This arrangement may be temporary or permanent, depending on the circumstances facing the child’s parents and, most importantly, what ensures the child’s safety and well-being. Kinship care helps maintain important family connections and provides children with a sense of familiarity during what is often an incredibly traumatic transition.
The need to provide a home for Kaylee and Levi was not unexpected for Jeri and CJ. When they would visit Texas for the holidays, they observed the warning signs of neglect and abuse with these children.
“We didn’t approve of what was happening and I’m not one to be stepped on,” Jeri said. “I hold my ground, and I won’t let children be treated that way.” It got to a point where the children’s parents wouldn’t let them see the rest of the family. The kids were able to live with their grandmother for a bit, but she was disabled and eventually had to move into a nursing home.
Catching Up
Moving in with their aunt and uncle was a huge lifestyle shift for Kaylee and Levi, aged 9 and 13 at the time. They were used to living in a home with no structure or rules. They could watch rated-R movies, had no bedtime, and were even discouraged from doing homework.
Jeri and CJ had to address immediate needs that had gone long unaddressed. The kids arrived with a bag of clothes that didn’t fit, so one of the first things they did was buy new clothes. They also realized Levi, who is autistic, still couldn’t do simple things like take a shower or tie his shoes, so they quickly had him tested and got him into occupational and physical therapy. Kaylee was behind on development too, entering her teens at a 3rd grade reading level, so they connected her with tutoring and worked with her as much as they could to catch her up with her peers.
Doing the Work
Even though Jeri and CJ had been parents for three decades and had adopted a child recently, the process to become licensed kinship foster caregivers still provided its challenges due to the unique circumstance and advanced needs of the children. In Florida, their adoption was more straightforward with less regulatory red tape. In Texas, they had to regularly communicate and work with two CPS offices (one where they live and one from where the kids used to live), as well as fulfill Arms Wide’s requirements and training to become licensed. But our staff walked with them every step of the way.
“Arms Wide’s training facilitator was phenomenal in making sure we both got all the trainings completed despite our busy schedules,” Jeri said. With so many years since they had last parented young children, Jeri and CJ said they had to retrain themselves on parenting approaches — and found Arms Wide’s resources helpful, even given the unique circumstances of their situation.
“When our case manager Yajaira took over our case, she also went above and beyond what she had to do for us.” Even in a city as big as Houston, the Kreiers struggled to find consistent therapeutic counselors that specialized in working with children dealing with developmental trauma and worked with their insurance plan, but Yajaira found them a counselor who lived six blocks away from them and came into the home, which Jeri called “a Godsend.”
A Permanent Family
Six months into their kinship care journey, Kaylee and Levi’s parents had made no progress toward reunification. With the children’s long-term stability in mind, Jeri and CJ made the decision to move forward with adoption, fully committing to providing them with a permanent, loving home.
They received their adoption date two days prior but fortunately were already hosting family for an early Thanksgiving celebration that day. The judge finalized the adoption in the comfort of their own home via a Zoom video call. It was a happy day for the parents, but understandably conflicting day for the kids, as they saw it as an ending just as much as a beginning. But Jeri and CJ have assured the kids that they can resume communication with their biological parents once all parties feel they are ready.
Life after adoption has proven to be busy for the Kreiers as they continue to help their kids learn life skills and adjust to this new life. Levi can ride a bike now, Kaylee continues to improve in her education, and most importantly, both are accustomed to safety and stability thanks to the relentless dedication of Jeri and CJ, their new parents.
