Court workers and families celebrated parents who have overcome addiction and other obstacles to get their children back.
EVERETT, Wash. — Rochelle Green has spent more time in a courtroom than she cares to remember. None of it has been good, until now.
“I’m feeling great,” she said as she walked into the courtroom of Judge Jon Scott.
On this day, Green is regaining custody of her daughter, Alice. The 9-year-old was taken away by the state after her mother spiraled into addiction and homelessness.
“After I lost everything I had to change something to get my life back and I’ve been able to do it,” Rochelle said. “I had to lose everything to get everything back.”
Green agreed to get sober, go to intensive counseling and learn how to be a better parent. That included a six-month supervised trial period where Alice lived with her mother under the court’s watchful eye.
Sixteen months later, Green is deemed fit to be a mother once again – Judge Scott dismissing her case to tears and applause in his courtroom.
Court administrators say what Rochelle completed isn’t so much a program as it is a process.
The goal in all cases where a child is taken from a parent is to reunite them, but only if the parent is willing to put in the hard work.
“A lot of times parents in these situations see us as villains. Trust needs to be built.” said Judge Patrick Moriarty. “Once that happens and that positive relationship happens you see these parents turn things around. They start engaging in services they need, and we have happy days like today.”
Last year In Snohomish County, 173 families were reunited. This year 78 have already done so.
A state law that took effect in 2023 aims to increase those numbers.
The Keeping Families Together Act raises the standard for child removal from a home and eliminates poverty, substance abuse, homelessness as reasons for removal.
For Rochelle Green and Alice it’s a new beginning.
“It is possible to recover,” Green said. “It is possible to get things back on track. I hope I can reach someone who is in the same position I was in and inspire hope. It can happen. I did it.”
After court, families, parental advocates and court workers gathered at a nearby park for a celebratory picnic.
As she climbed on the monkey bars Alice quipped, “I love my mom soooo much, or like my grandpa says, I love her too much and a whole bunch.”
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