Eckerd Under Fire as Davion Only Still Not in a Permanent Home UPDATED

“Six months after Florida teenager Davion Only asked a church full of strangers to help him find a real home – he still has not been adopted.

Criticism of Eckerd, the adoption agency charged with finding the now 16-year-old boy an adoptive family has grown – with many potential parents claiming that their phone calls have never been returned.

It is even alleged that the teenager who toured morning and national talk shows in September is no longer allowed to speak to the media, has no cellphone or email and has put his Facebook settings on private.

Indeed, the young-man – who captured the heart of the nation with his heart-breaking request last year – has grown despondent with those who know him saying that he ‘just wants the whole process to be over’.

The teenager made his stark, simple and emotional plea stood at the pulpit in September at the age of 15 wearing a donated suit and clutching a Bible he had borrowed from his boy’s home.

‘My name is Davion,’ he said. ‘And I’ve been in foster care since I was born.

He told the congregation: ‘I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be… I know God hasn’t given up on me. So I’m not giving up either.’

Davion told the church he never knew his real family and that he hoped for a home.

He was featured on Good Morning America, Al Jazeera America and in People. Producers flew him in to speak with Barbara Walters in New York on The View. About 10,000 people around the globe called to ask about helping or adopting him.

Davion has since moved out of a group home and into a foster one as reported by the MailOnline in December, but sadly, he still does not have a permanent home or adoptive parents.

‘Something doesn’t seem right. I pray about it,’ said his mentor, Richard Prince, 22.

‘He’s changed schools and foster homes, and he’s not allowed to tell me certain things. People want to hear a happy ending, but it’s not too clear what’s going on.’

More than 300 people contacted the Times last fall saying they couldn’t get in touch with anyone at Davion’s foster agency, Eckerd.

The Tampa Bay Times contacted a sample of 40 of those potential parents. Of the 10 who responded, nine said they had not heard from Eckerd.

‘We never received a response. This just breaks my heart,’ wrote Marcy Theobald of Georgia to the Tampa Bay Times.

‘What is wrong with the system?! Everyone deserves to be treated fairly and loved.’

‘No one has contacted me regarding Davion,’ Shelly Bergman wrote from Ohio.

‘I just don’t understand it, and I sure hope he does not lose his faith because of that. This sweet young man just wants to be loved by someone. Bring him here, I will welcome him with open arms.’

The paper were also contacted by Sharron Furno and her husband in Michigan. They run a license foster home and have four other adopted children.

Out of the 40 people the Tampa Bay Times contacted, she was the only one who had received any response from Ekcerd.

‘I received an email stating that they were only considering families in the state,’ Furno wrote.

‘We offered to pay for his transportation. I offered to go to Florida and spend time with him. Why leave him there when they haven’t been able to give him permanency in years?’

An Eckerd spokeswoman said Davion was meeting with prospective adoptive families and that the process would take time.

Some adoptions experts say they are not surprised that an adoption has taken so long, but other children’s advocates are appalled.

‘The poor kid has got to be wondering, ‘Why, out of all those people, does no one want me?’ Dr. Gregory Keck, a psychologist who has spent 25 years working with foster and adopted children said

According to Florida’s Department of Children and Families, adoption of a child from foster care should take between nine months and a year.

‘I know Eckerd is committed to finding Davion the forever family that is perfect for him,’ said interim Secretary Esther Jacobo.

‘The relationship cannot be forced or rushed.’

In December it seemed that the teen was on the brink of a breakthrough.

He was introduced to a prospective adoptive family. Eckerd spokesperson Terri Durdaller said, ‘He has moved from his group home placement at Carlton Manor to a foster home where he is enjoying getting to know the family. Davion is excited to be spending the holidays with a perspective adoptive family.’

However, still the teenage boy has not been found a permanent home. Durdaller said some media had misunderstood.

‘The foster and adoptive parents are two separate systems,’ said Durdaller.

‘He is in a foster home, things are more stable there. Sometimes a foster parent will adopt. But he is meeting with different perspective adoptive families. We have 15 years of his life to catch a family up on. That takes time.’

Indeed, some adoption experts said that they aren’t surprised that Davion still hasn’t been adopted.

‘It isn’t easy,’ said Bob Rooks, who directs Explore Adoption, Florida’s adoption referral center in Jacksonville to the Tampa Bay Times.

‘Of all those 10,000 calls, probably only a small percentage already were qualified to adopt. And at his age, he has his own opinions. Maybe his needs were different from what those families wanted.’

Connie Going, the Eckerd adoptions specialist who took Davion to church back in September has called him ‘a forgotten child.’

‘I have to believe everything is going to be okay in the long run,’ said Going. ‘I think he just wants it all to be over.’

Indeed, Going now alleges that Davion is not allowed to speak to the media anymore – despite the huge publicity tour that Eckerd allowed him to go on in September.

For their part, Eckerd said that Davion has so far met with four prospective families and that they are hopeful the right fit has been found.

‘It was decided that one family has the skills needed to care for him,’ she wrote in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.

‘All qualified families that did express an interest in adopting Davion were explored,’ Durdaller wrote in February.

She won’t reveal where the family lives, or anything about them.”

Adoption service under fire as it’s revealed Davion Only – the boy who begged churchgoers to adopt him – is STILL not in a permanent home despite dozens of families being turned away[Daily Mail 3/23/14 By James Nye]

“More than 300 people who wanted to adopt Davion contacted the Times last fall saying they couldn’t get in touch with anyone at Eckerd, the voicemail box was full, or no one was returning their messages.”

“Eckerd started its search by responding to “families that may already have a connection with the child, relative, mentor, teacher, etc,” wrote Durdaller. “If no connection exists, we then begin exploring the list of families that have expressed an interest in the child.”

Florida families get priority, she said, because they “maintain the child in the same geographical area so that community and school connections can be preserved.”

In November, Davion said he hoped that a second cousin who works for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department might adopt him. The deputy, in his early 30s and single, never knew about Davion until he saw the Times story. He spent time with Davion, but by Christmas decided that Davion needed two parents.

So Eckerd started trying to match Davion with the strangers who had reached out. “All qualified families that have expressed an interest in adopting Davion have been explored,” Durdaller wrote in February. “There are several families in the pipeline to be considered for adoption of Davion.”

“A couple of weeks ago, Davion called Going and said, “I had a blowout.”

Going is no longer his adoptions specialist. Eckerd fired her in January, after she had worked with foster kids for almost 30 years. She said she had ruffled too many feathers, trying to fight for her kids. Eckerd refused to comment, citing privacy concerns.

But Going wasn’t going to let Davion go. She had been in his life longer than anyone else, since he was 7. She had adopted one of his best friends. So with the foster mom’s permission, and in an effort to keep him in touch with his friend, she invited him over to her house for dinner and to watch football. Whenever you’re upset, she told him, call me.

“All the change, he was overwhelmed. He told me he’d blown it,” said Going, who now works for the Heart Gallery. So Eckerd moved him again. “Into a therapeutic foster home.”

In the last six months, since asking for help from God and strangers, Davion has gotten to see the Bucs and the Lightning, even the Jets. Someone gave him a watch. Lots of folks sent gift cards and checks totaling more than $5,500.

But he has lost everything that was familiar — his friends and counselors from the group home; his school; his adoptions specialist.

“I have to believe everything is going to be okay in the long run,” said Going. “I think he just wants it all to be over.”

Durdaller wouldn’t comment on where Davion has lived, what schools he has been transferred to, or how many families had home studies done on his behalf.

And after having Davion take news crews through his group home, making him a Web page on Eckerd’s site, and allowing him to appear on national talk shows, she said the boy who has become the face of teenage adoption is no longer allowed to talk to the media.

Davion doesn’t have a cellphone or email. His Facebook settings are private. He just turned 16.

So far, Durdaller said, Davion has met with four families. “It was decided that one family has the skills needed to care for him,” she wrote.

She won’t reveal where the family lives, or anything about them.

But a couple of weeks ago Going was with her son at Astro Skate in Pinellas Park when she heard a familiar voice, “Miss Connie!”

“He waved me over. He was with a couple who want him, who already have kids,” Going said. “They’re in their 40s or 50s, I’d guess, and live in Ohio. That was their first visit.”

Later, Davion told Going he likes them.

Durdaller wouldn’t confirm anything — except that Davion is going to spend time with a family next week, for spring break. It will be his first overnight visit in a house where people might really want him to stay.”

Davion Only still not adopted despite worldwide attention[Tampa Bay Times 3/22/14 by Lane DeGregory]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:”‘He thought he had finally found a family.

After 16 years of floundering in foster care, after taking the pulpit at a St. Petersburg church last September asking someone — anyone — to adopt him, after his story was shared around the world and 10,000 people offered to help or take him home, Davion Only moved to Ohio in March to live with the parents who had promised to care for him forever and love him no matter what

The couple, a minister and his wife, flew Davion up to visit over spring break. They introduced him to their three children and took him to church. Davion came back to Florida just long enough to pack a small suitcase. Then he returned to Ohio, where his prospective parents signed him up to play football — something he had always wanted to do.

“I got baptized!” he wrote April 20, from his new phone, on his new Facebook page.

The adoption could take place in 90 days, said Terri Durdaller, whose agency, Eckerd, oversees Tampa Bay’s foster children. That would have meant that Davion could be adopted this month.

Instead, he is back in Pinellas County, at a therapeutic foster home, upset and embarrassed, unwilling to talk.

“There was an incident in Ohio,” said Eckerd’s director, Lorita Shirley. At one point, she said, things got physical between Davion and another child in the house, and with the dad. The family wanted him out.

On May 30, Davion’s case manager flew to Ohio and brought him back to Florida.

“This has been a major setback for him,” Shirley said. “Our goal now is to get him treatment.”

Davion Navar Henry Only was born while his mom was in jail. He started searching for her last June, after he finished his first year in high school. She had died just a few weeks before.

That’s when he knew, his counselors said, that she wasn’t coming to get him. That’s when he decided to find a family himself.

Davion said he was tired of sharing a group home with 12 teen boys, all with problems. Tired of locked refrigerators and cameras recording everything. He wanted someone to support him. To believe in him.

Last summer, he went to the gym and lost 40 pounds. Last fall, he buckled down at school, started getting A’s. He tried to control his temper, be the kind of kid someone would want.

“I’ll take anyone,” Davion said last September. “Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don’t care.”

“I know God hasn’t given up on me,” he told the packed congregation at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church. “So I’m not giving up either.”

His story went viral. After appearing on the front page of the Tampa Bay Times Oct. 8, Davion’s plea was picked up by news outlets across the world. Producers of The View flew him to New York to talk to Barbara Walters.

More than 10,000 strangers called offering to help or adopt him. Eckerd workers returned 2,500 of those calls, said Durdaller, the agency’s spokeswoman.

At first, Eckerd officials tried to connect Davion with a second cousin, a sheriff’s deputy who learned of Davion through the newspaper. When that didn’t work, they moved him from the group home to be with a foster family. But that family never intended to adopt Davion.

In early March, Davion called his former adoptions specialist to say, “I had a blowout.” The foster family refused to keep him.

But it was okay, Davion said then. He had met this great couple from Ohio. A minister and his wife with a bunch of kids.

They said they wanted him. Finally, someone wanted him.

“On paper, this was the book-definition perfect family for him,” said Shirley, Eckerd’s director. “The father was a pastor who had worked with troubled kids. They knew about Davion’s background and his issues.”

“The biggest thing that went wrong is that Davion spent 15 years in the system,” said Shirley. “He has a lot of built up anger. It’s been very devastating for everyone involved.”

Eckerd therapists refused to let Davion talk to the media. He didn’t respond to Facebook messages. He no longer has a cellphone.

The Ohio family didn’t respond to requests either.

Since September, when Davion asked God and strangers for help, he has been moved away from his friends at his group home and school. He has lost his adoptions specialist. And he has cycled through four families.

His mentor, 22-year-old Richard Prince, said he hasn’t seen Davion since he was sent back to Florida.

“I’m extremely worried about him,” Prince said. “We had a short conversation a couple of weeks ago, but it was very unsettling.”

Eckerd’s website has its own page devoted to Davion, which has raised money and awareness about other teenagers in foster care. “I am currently matched with a family,” says his profile.

Which is no longer true.

“When he is ready, we will continue down the list of people who have expressed interest in him,” said Shirley. “Now, we might be looking at empty-nesters, people who raised teenagers but don’t have any other kids in their house. That might be the best match for him.”

Since September, when Davion took the pulpit, 339 children in Pinellas and Pasco counties have been adopted.

But the boy who became the face for older adoption, whose “Davion Effect” was touted in Tallahassee and on TV talk shows, is still alone.”.

 

Orphan back in Fla. after Ohio adoption fails[Go Erie 7/3/14 by Associated Press]

Update 2: “A Florida teen says he’s finally found home almost two years after his plea at church for a family to adopt him generated 10,000 inquiries.

Davion Navar Henry Only was born in prison, raised in foster care and never felt wanted before taking the pulpit at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in 2013 to ask for help.

Of all the inquiries nationwide, a minister’s family in Ohio seemed like the best fit. But when Davion got into a fight with one of the minister’s children, he was sent back to Florida’s foster care system.

The 16-year-old then reached out to his former caseworker. Connie Going tells theTampa Bay Times her adoption of Davion will be finalized April 22.

Davion says he always thought of Going as his mother.”

Teen who made adoption plea finds home with ex-caseworker[WTSP 4/12/15 by Associated Press]

“About a year and a half ago, Davion Only made a special appeal, standing up in front of a packed congregation at a Florida church, asking to be adopted.

Now, 17 years after being born to a mother in prison and spending a life in Florida’s foster care system, Only is home — with his new family.

That new home is with Connie Going, who worked trying to help foster children get adopted and knew Only since he was 7 years old.

“Everyone always just adored Davion,” Going told TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones. “It was hard for me to understand why he didn’t have his family.”

At 15 years old, when Only made his plea to the packed congregation, he said: “I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple, I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative; the best I could be.”

After Only’s appeal went viral, more than 10,000 people responded, but nothing panned out. So, Only said he decided to call Going, who was no longer a case worker, and asked if she would consider adopting him.

“From that minute on, he was 100 percent my son,” she said.

Last week, it became official: Only joined Going’s family, and became a big brother to her son and two daughters.

As for his future, Only said he wants to go to college, but first has his eyes on a driver’s license. “I’ll have the freedom to go wherever the heck I want to go,” he said.”

Davion Only, teen who made appeal for adoption in packed church, finds a home[Today 5/2/15 by Elizabeth Murray]