A Legacy of Care
More than 200 lives.
Decades of lessons.
A legacy worth sharing.
Over the course of her foster-care experience, Debra Jemison provided structured, supportive care for more than 200 adolescent girls and young women from diverse backgrounds.
Her responsibilities extended far beyond providing a home.
She coordinated educational, therapeutic, medical, behavioral, and family-support services; supported family reunification efforts; facilitated parent-child visitation; implemented behavior-management plans; and collaborated with social workers, educators, therapists, families, and other professionals.
From experience to resource
Debra's foster-care journey represents a body of knowledge that can serve others. Her perspective has relevance for:
- Current foster parents
- Prospective foster families
- Educators
- Social workers
- Case managers
- Youth advocates
- Ministries
- Nonprofit organizations
- Community agencies
- Foster-care professionals
- Young people impacted by the foster-care system
From the Archives
Originally published under the name Debra Jemison-Deloatch.
Providing a Nurturing Environment
The MetroWest Daily News
October 5, 2003
By Kathy Uek
In this 2003 profile, The MetroWest Daily News documented Debra’s commitment to fostering teenage girls whose needs often made finding stable homes especially difficult. The feature captured her approach to foster care as one grounded in structure, respect, honest communication, encouragement, and a lasting commitment to helping young women recognize their potential.
Debra is a gift from God. Both for us as an agency and for the young women in her home.
Experience becomes legacy when what we have learned can help someone else.
Proposed brand statement — not a direct quotation
The Next Chapter
With decades of lessons, challenges, stories, and insights to draw from, Debra is beginning to consider how her experience might become a resource for others through writing, speaking, mentoring, training, or advocacy.
A book may be next.
There is a story behind more than 200 foster-care journeys.
There are lessons for families considering foster care.
There is wisdom for those already doing the work.
And there are insights that may help professionals and organizations better understand the realities surrounding adolescent foster care.
This next chapter is still being written.