Kingman officer adopts girl after case of abuse

well what seemed like a routine call ended up changing a kingman police officer's life forever and it ended up giving one little girl a safe place to call home nick saletti has more on this heartwarming story this morning then i recognized her injuries and what they meant and the abuse that she suffered in different stages so i know something wasn't right lieutenant brian zach describing the day he met little kyler he was called to a home to assist another officer with a case when they found the little girl seriously hurt lieutenant zack says he took kyla back to the kingman police department where she would be safe they ended up spending nearly five hours together she didn't talk a whole lot she mostly grunted and pointed at things we watched movies we played games we just had i tried making it as fun as possible for her and then dcs responded and took her to the hospital lieutenant zach says he couldn't get little kyla off of his mind i came home told my wife the the story about this little girl that i just bonded with and would love to bring her home and in the past 15 years i've said that many times to my wife of some kid that i met that i would love to bring home and love and take care of so it was nothing new for her but this time was different i called the dcs worker and got an update on kyla and find out that she was transported to vegas and got a bait on her injuries and that she would be in vegas for a little bit so i asked if i could um be on the list to see her because i know in child abuse cases the hospital is pretty much on the lockdown so they put me on the list which way this way then lieutenant zach got the call that would change his life and kyla's life forever dcs asking if he would be willing to take kyla into his home for a couple of weeks the father of two teens sat down with his family to discuss the idea of placement so we had a family meeting and it was i showed them picture of kyla and said this little girl may need to come to our house for some love and care for a little bit we don't know how long but it could be a couple weeks a month or so and we just want to provide our loving home and everyone was on board after getting approval from his bosses lieutenant zach says kylo was at his home in just a few days his family worked quickly to make sure she felt welcomed buying her new clothes and even a bed of her own and we walked inside the house and we sat down and i know she liked wreck-it ralph so we put her ralph on and she sat on the couch and she just grabbed my hand put on her lap and she started petting my hand um i i maybe it was my intuition or just my own thinking i think she felt safe [Music] kyla's case went from placement to adoption the zach's deciding to permanently make her part of the family two and a half years later lieutenant zach says kyla is thriving she loves school and i just can't wait to see how much more she can do in her life given some opportunities that she may never have had and to me that's that's worthwhile and it makes me it makes me feel really good to be part of the process and i hope others can learn from that and experience it as well in arizona there are currently more than 14 thousand children in foster care roughly 1500 of those kids are living in group homes katie hernandez with arizona's children association says the need for foster parents is great every single day especially during the pandemic that we're in right now that are being removed and it's very limited homes there's not enough homes for all the kids that are in care right now so it's very important while being a foster parent comes with challenges hernandez says stepping into the role is rewarding you know just being able to see a child flourish being placed into your home after you've worked with them you know you're being consistent with them you're being patient with them you're giving them the love and patience and um stability that they've never received before in your life just being able to see you know the just the establishment of them throughout their life you know from being placed in your home and even like a month later it's just it's just amazing to know that that you were able to provide that for a child the slider the swings it's a role that lieutenant zack is considering possibly doing again in the future to bring another child who needs love into his home after the joy that kyla has brought together she's definitely thrived and come into her own she's always been instantly a part of our family and taken in very well and i just want to see her succeed in life and hope she has better opportunities and chances now got it all right go nick saletti abc 15 arizona and again that was nick saletti in collaboration with producer kaylee latham bringing that amazing story uh to us this morning so if you're not sure if maybe adoption is the right thing for you or maybe even fostering if you're not sure if either of those are the right thing for you there are other ways that you can help out too arizona's children association tells us that mentors volunteers and donations are always needed

Channel: ABC15 Arizona

Views: 1,481,369

Keywords: abc15, kingman, arizona, adoption

Id: rdwnrnScNcM

Length: 5min 35sec (335 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 04 2020