Most of the adults have had substance abuse problems. Many have never completed high school or held a steady job. They have been in and out of the court system and have lived on government aid. Their children are all too familiar with foster care. At Home Start they get a chance to keep their families together.
Some families make it.
If they don't, the parents may lose custody of their children forever. Ann Engelbrecht has been the director of Home Start for more than 20 months. She says she can't predict which families will succeed. Sometimes, I see a family doing well for a couple of months and think they'll be fine. Then everything falls apart.