Vancouver resident recounts her journey with the foster care system and homelessness

Now as an adult, she feels triggered when people monitor her, an outcome of her past experiences with domestic violence. “That’s why I can’t do the shelters, that’s why I need my own space,” she said. “I’ve had control issues. People controlled me my whole life.”

This need for freedom, however, did not bode well for her at the Safe Park, which has many rules for residents. Her disregard for the regulations, such as a rule prohibiting residents from using illegal substances on the premises, led to the city kicking her out of her assigned spot in mid-September.

After leaving the Safe Park, Sample once again had nowhere to call home.

out of control

Ever since her eldest daughter was born 15 years ago, Sample has feared Child Protective Services would take her kids from her, just as she was taken from her mother. CPS is a service within the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families that investigates reports of child abuse and neglect.

That fear was realized in January 2020 after her eldest daughter, then 12, experienced a severe mental health crisis. CPS removed both daughters from her care shortly afterward.

Then, the day after the city kicked Sample out of the Safe Park, the state took her son, too. The Department of Children, Youth and Families cited her homeless living conditions as one of the reasons to request out-of-home placement for her son.