We are excited to celebrate the Teegarden adoption! Tanya Teegarden recently adopted her two sons after navigating a complicated journey through foster care and guardianship. Tanya’s sons are her biological great-nephews, so she initially welcomed them into her home as a relative foster care provider.
The Road to Foster Care and Coyote Hill
She decided to get her foster care license after discovering that they had already been in five separate foster homes during their short time in care. She began working towards her foster care license in July of 2019. In November 2019, she was granted custody of her sons, and they have been with her ever since!
She became their guardian in 2021 and moved their case to Boone County, where she learned about Coyote Hill. Tanya previously worked for Love Columbia. She is close friends with their founder, Jane Williams, who encouraged her at the beginning of her faith journey.
“I called Jane and said, ‘I’m going to be a real mom, and I don’t know how to do it,’” Tanya shared. “She sat down with me and gave me a list of organizations, one after the other.”
Coyote Hill was on the list. It also included Boone County Family Resources, The Thompson Center, and Central Missouri Foster & Adoption Association.
Tanya signed up for one of our Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)® classes. TBRI® teaches trauma-informed strategies to connect with and empower children. Tanya was able to use strategies that encourage gentle and kind behavior, which have made a huge difference.
“My kiddos had a lot of trauma, and I didn’t really understand how to deal with that,” Tanya shared. “[My sons’] ability to retain information and self-regulate has been very impactful. If I hadn’t have been in TBRI®, I wouldn’t have known where to start.”
The Journey to Adoption
The road to the Teegarden adoption was not linear, in part because they included a Post-Adoption Contact Agreement (PACA). This allows Tanya’s sons to continue contact with their biological mother.
“We worked really hard to get reunification done, and I advocated for [their biological mom] as much as I did for [my sons],” Tanya said. “We want her to be a part of the future. I believe that all adoptive children should have the opportunity to know their parents at some point if it’s possible.”
Tanya shared that Coyote Hill helped connect her to vital resources that helped sustain her over the years.
“My advocate, Paige, she’s got a heart like Jesus. She never gave up on me. I didn’t have a voice back then, but organizations like Coyote Hill help me have a voice,” Tanya said. “I felt like we were barely making it and surviving and now we’re thriving. Whether it’s been a Christmas present, a phone call, a gas card, a car repair, a prayer, or just, ‘Hey Tanya, we’re here, you’re not alone,’ . . . that’s what Coyote Hill does. They walk alongside you and they believe in you. In the deepest valleys and on the mountaintops. ”
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