PEORIA, AZ — Uplifting moments can come after the lowest days.
Those moments are the goal for families looking to be reunited after a court order separation.
These days, Jason Burmeister has nearly everything he could ask for but it wasn’t too long ago when he had nothing to be proud of.
“Who knows what they’re doing when they’ve never been a dad? Even if you haven’t dealt with substance abuse,” he said while swinging his 2-year-old daughter in the front yard of his Peoria home.
Burmeister doesn’t mind sharing he was once addicted, homeless and living on the streets.
While he was in rehab, he got a letter from the county with two life-changing pieces of information; that he had a daughter, and that she was on the cusp of being adopted.
In that moment Burmeister said, “All these things are running through my mind, I can’t support her.”
Burmeister knew telling the court about the past wasn’t a good case to get custody, but he also knew – he had to try.
”I’m going to give it everything I have, I don’t care if I fail, my kids are going to know I at least tried,” he said.
For the next six months, Burmeister did everything the court asked and then some.
“They showed me to show up to classes online, I showed up in person,” he said.
Those classes are part of the path for parents separated from their kids to be reunited.
So far this year, there’s been 1,672 children filed on new dependency petitions in Maricopa County. Meaning, those children have entered the child welfare system through the Juvenile courts.
For most parents, being separated from the life you brought into the world is a rock bottom moment.
Judge Lori Bustamante says the most common cause of families being separated is substance abuse.
“It really all comes down to safety,” she said.
The good news is 2,221 children have exited the county child welfare system so far this year thanks in part to their parents starting the reunification process.
In all of last year, there were a total of 4,024 children filed on new dependency petitions. There was a total of 5,074 children with dependency petitions dismissed.
The day the reunion happens is what Judge Bustamante calls “the best day in court.”
“It gives me chills every time, it gives me chills talking about it right now,” she said with a smile on her face.
For Burmeister, life is different these days - but in a much better way.
”I’m going to show up for her, and if you bring that with you, there’s no one, no amount of money, no lawyers that’s going to keep you in your kids life,” he said.
