A Bright Future for Carlos

Carlos is a sweet, active, happy little boy. He loves blocks and colors, and gives big cheesy grins. Carlos is two years old and has experienced more hardship than anyone should in such a short time, until early intervention provided support.

His mother struggled in many ways since having Carlos. At the end of 2017, Child Protective Services (CPS) learned that Carlos and his mom were living on the streets. At the time, Carlos was extremely underweight and his behavior was not developmentally appropriate for his age.

Carlos’ aunt, Melissa, and her husband gained guardianship of Carlos in January 2018 and quickly enrolled him in Any Baby Can’s Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program.

Initially, Carlos was “pocketing” his food, which is a feeding disorder that manifests when children go without food for long periods. He was delayed in speech and cognition and had social emotional concerns, signs of the trauma he experienced.

Over the last 8 months, Carlos has worked with his Any Baby Can case manager Megan Dreyer, as well as Carrie McDonald for speech therapy and Alejandra Toledo for specialized skills trainings. The Any Baby Can team visits his home regularly and works with Carlos and Melissa on key developmental milestones, as well as parenting and family support.