Little City, Big Community.

Victoria Langren had been through this situation before. She was going to need to find a foster child a new home. Victoria Langren had been through this situation before. She was going to need to find a foster child a new home.   

Victoria, a permanency supervisor for Little City’s Foster Care & Adoption program, had a case where a foster child required in-patient treatment at a pediatric psych unit because of a behavior that escalated to a dangerous level. Most hospitals prefer not to admit foster children because they often have no home to discharge them to. After situations like this, the foster parent usually does not want the child back in the home.   

But Carolyn isn’t like most foster parents.  

“I remember talking to Carolyn during that time and saying he would probably need some in-patient treatment, and you could see how much she cared and how much it upset her because she didn’t want to leave him,” Victoria said. “She not only wanted him back at home, but back as soon as possible.”   

That unwavering love is what makes Carolyn and Matt’s relationship so special. Carolyn first took Matt in 2020 when he was only three years old. He could only say the word “no” at the time and had significant behavior issues that resulted in self-harm, property destruction, or running away. The trauma he had already experienced in his short life made it difficult for him to connect with anyone.   

But Carolyn found a way to connect with Matt and today he is fully verbal and happy, having gained control over the types of behaviors that once put him in the hospital.   

“She was the first person he wouldn’t run away from,” Victoria said of Carolyn. “He is very affectionate, and she reciprocates that. They have such a sweet, loving, and safe relationship and that is why he has made so much progress.”  

Carolyn said she gives a lot of credit to the support Little City has offered throughout the years, especially the mental health services. Matt was part of a pilot program at Little City that provided Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy in addition to more traditional mental health therapy. Matt works with one of Little City’s mental health therapists and a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, and that dual approach has led to an incredible transformation.   

Matt now works with a therapist twice a week including one who works with him in his daycare setting before bringing him home. Matt had been dismissed from multiple day cares in the early years because of his issues, but the on-site therapy has helped him thrive in that environment.   

“The services are just on point. I’ve never experienced this kind of support at any other agency,” Carolyn said. “You hear a lot of people who have complaints or don’t get along with a case worker and I don’t have that problem. Little City really is a gem.”  

The experience has been so good not just with Little City but with Matt, whom Carolyn is now in the process of adopting. She said it has been a life-changing experience and a great joy even through the ups and downs.   

“My favorite thing is going to pick him up and ask him how his day is,” she said. “And he’ll say, ‘Grandma,’ – he calls me Grandma – ‘I had a great day today.’ And I give him a big hug and let him know how happy that makes me, and then that makes him happy to hear.”  

Victoria said it has been incredible to see just how much the pilot ABA therapy program has helped Matt and Carolyn by providing the tools and support they needed to work through the issues and grow. Little City is now expanding that program and opening a new behavioral health clinic in its Chicago office to reach even more families who need these mental health services.   

And while the program has made a life-changing difference, Victoria said it is still the people who matter most at the end of the day.   

“Carolyn is just an amazing foster parent, and I wish we had more of her to go around,” Victoria said. “She advocates for him, communicates with us, and has never wavered in her love for Matt. She has always been his home.” 

Little City changed the name of the child in this story to protect privacy