Foster care system reform: new advocate offers path to reunification
A former foster youth, Nikki Sanchez, is spearheading a vital expansion of services for families navigating the complex world of foster care, offering a lifeline to parents and children alike.
Breaking barriers: a new approach to reunification
Be the Source, a nonprofit organization, has been steadily broadening its support network since 2016, initially focused on foster families and now extending crucial resources to kinship care families. More recently, in 2025, they’ve taken a significant step by providing tailored assistance to birth families facing removal proceedings – a development long overdue. Sanchez, appointed as the organization’s first Birth Family Advocate, is determined to shift the narrative around these challenging situations.
“My main goal is that when they are reunited with their kids they have everything that they need in place,” Sanchez told CBS News Colorado. She’s not just offering paperwork; she’s providing a holistic approach, attending court hearings alongside parents, collaborating on treatment plans, and actively connecting families with essential resources. It’s a far cry from the often-isolating experience she herself endured.
From crisis to compassion: sanchez’s personal journey
Sanchez’s path to advocacy is deeply personal. Following a domestic violence incident in 2022, her children were removed from her care, leading to a period of profound instability – a jail sentence, homelessness, substance abuse challenges, and a crippling lack of direction. She recalls feeling utterly abandoned, stating, “It felt very hopeless. I had no motivation.”
Crucially, she lacked the understanding of the treatment plan designed to facilitate her children’s return. “I felt set up… like, ‘Okay, you guys are just trying to take my kids. You’re not helping me. You’re not here for me,’” Sanchez recounted, highlighting the feeling of being dismissed and judged by previous caseworkers. It was the support of her children's foster parents, she emphasizes, that ultimately sparked a slow, steady rebuilding of trust.
“They did things that they didn’t have to for me, and little by little my trust started coming, and I just saw how much they loved my kids, too,” Sanchez explained. These seemingly small acts – ensuring she had appropriate attire for court appearances, arranging a birthday celebration – represented a critical shift in her perspective. “When I was reunified with my son, the way it was, it was so smooth. It was like a co-parenting thing. And then I got my daughters back, and I had lost all of these services that I was getting when I had CPS in my life. I lost it all. They were there to help me, and if not, I would have been alone,” she added, underscoring the transformative impact of consistent, compassionate support.
A network of support: tbri and beyond
Sanchez credits Raise the Future with providing invaluable training, including Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). “When I was in that class I was like, 'I should have had this before I got my kids. This is soo, so useful,’” she shared. She’s now incorporating TBRI practices into her work, not just with clients but also to facilitate healing within her own blended Family of six children. The organization’s ongoing support is instrumental in furthering this work.
“I love my life,” Sanchez concluded with a smile, reflecting on her journey and the renewed hope she’s bringing to families struggling within the foster care system. She’s determined to lessen the immense impact this system has on both birth parents and children – a mission driven by her own painful experience and a profound commitment to positive change.