Boys Town North Florida

The best people and so helpful.
Jul 19th, 2020

I miss y'all so much
Nov 19th, 2017

I can't brag on this place enough. DCF came into our lives after I had a suicide attempt during a period of really bad postpartum depression. After my appendix ruptured, I was unable to clean. The house became very messy, and the girls were removed. I really cannot brag about DCF. We have not had very good workers, at all. Our main one was actually fired. BUT. One thing they absolutely do right is making Boys Town part of the safety plan. Miss Monica is a treasure trove of wisdom and community connections and insights into agencies that can help you financially and socially. She is proper, always smartly dressed, just a very intelligent and sensible woman who will have high expectations for you and grade you at the end of the program hard but 100% fair. She literally came into my house every week and helped me mop floors and kill gnats, which was backbreaking work. But she always had an attitude that just projected confidence, patience, good will, and professionalism. Monica hooked us up with things like Our Florida that covered like at least 7000$ of rent and utilities for us. In the end you understand why they did everything they did--two weeks of working on incorporating positive uplifting statements in the home, two weeks to work on how my psych meds are being managed, two weeks to work on deep cleaning, and so on. She would come prepared with things like little cards with phrases that coach you how to discipline that I still have on my fridge. She understood what it's like to not raise a child (although hers was her choice, she really understands the emotions behind it and will be so empathetic and caring toward you, no judgment at all). She understood what it's like to be broke and not afford a mop or duster, and taught me different makeshift techniques for making these types of devices so that I could get my home to state standards. Now I am so, so very blessed to have Miss Shayla. She is the most tender, caring, insightful, empathetic individual. In another timeline I'd like to think she was a bff of mine--well really, she's becoming something like that. She is so validating and never judges. Every session she gives me 15 extra minutes to have time to just express what this journey is like and try to understand it better in addition to going over safety plans, making Venn diagrams of my current resources to feel less alone, mental health worksheets to stay safe and be the best mother I can be--everything she does I see how it's part of the bigger picture. She really seeks out what the real stressors are in our lives and on my mind and then creates a battle plan to address each one-by-one. She used to be a teacher so she is amazing with kids and has blessed my children with wonderful gifts. When they had bad MRSA infections and no one else would come to our aid, not even dcf, she brought us tons of towels and sheets so that we weren't constantly breaking our backs keeping up with the laundry and could finally scour the house enough to beat the infection. It made a huge difference in eliminating the painful boils my poor little babies were suffering. Boys Town is pro at identifying what you need, understanding your family dynamic, addressing the underlying problems, advocating your case to dcf, and helping you come out on top the mother or father you always wanted to be. Thank you guys.
Mar 1st, 2022