Sopeah

Sopeah, a 15-year-old Cambodian-American girl, was referred to ACS after the school filed a Child in Need of Services (CHINS) truancy petition due to her repeated absences. Two ACS clinicians–Kosal Suon, clinical interpreter, and one of our staff psychologists–began meeting with Sopeah and her mother to understand the reasons behind Sopeah’s poor school attendance.

Speaking in Khmer, Sopeah’s mother told Mr. Suon how upset she was to have her daughter involved with the court, but also how worried she was since her daughter had always been interested in school. She thought the problem was Sopeah’s new boyfriend and complained that recently Sopeah had begun staying overnight at his home where he lived with his parents and grandmother.

In asking Sopeah and her mother about their lives together, the ACS clinicians learned that shortly after arriving in Lowell, Sopeah’s father had suffered a serious head injury in a car accident. He began staying home from work and displaying extreme mood swings with bouts of violence in the home. Sopeah’s mother would call the police to remove the father, but he would eventually return. The police advised her to file a restraining order to prevent him from returning, but her fear of the courts and concern that he might retaliate towards her and the children kept her from taking that step. When she could, she would take the children with her to a motel for the weekend to get away from her husband’s drinking and violence.

The loss of the father’s income meant that Sopeah’s mother carried the full burden of supporting the family. She had worked during the day when the children were young. Now that they were older, she had added a late-night factory shift, leaving Sopeah and her siblings at home alone with their father. Sopeah said that recently her father’s behavior had become so unpredictable and violent that she would lock herself in her bedroom to feel safe. Or, she would spend time at her boyfriend’s home where she also felt safe. She couldn’t really say why she skipped school except to say that she and her boyfriend frequently skipped together.

As she began to feel more comfortable with the ACS clinical team, Sopeah’s mother shared more and more details of the abuse, including her husband’s threats to murder her in her sleep. She finally came to the decision that she needed to find a safe place to live with her children. Mr. Suon accompanied her to her first meeting with the staff of a domestic violence program and arranged for an intake at a domestic violence shelter where they could all be safe. Eventually they moved to a different town in an undisclosed location. Now that she and her mother and siblings are settled, Sopeah has been attending classes regularly at a new school, a fresh opportunity to continue her education. Sopeah’s probation officer is pleased that the court’s monitoring will soon be completed, since Sopeah and her family are doing so much better. 

Sopeah's story illustrates the many layers underlying a particular behavior that brings a child to the attention of the court. When provided with appropriate services, all of these children and families have potential for positive directions.

*All client names and some identifying details have been changed in order to protect confidentiality