Paisley finds hope with her new family

When Katie Hughbanks’ relative became pregnant while struggling with heroin addiction, she watched what happened to the children with concern. One was adopted. The next two were struggling for stability in foster care. When the next one came along, she stepped up.

“I observed long enough,” she said.

When Paisley was born in April of 2017, Katie and her husband, Mark, took her into their home. Paisley had to live elsewhere for a bit to deal with drug withdrawal, but Mark and Katie were always there for her. On Tuesday, they officially became her parents during a hearing in Hamilton County Probate Court.

Paisley joins two of Katie’s children, 13 and 10 years old, in the Hughbanks home, as well as her birth brother and sister, 10 and 8 years old. The Hughbanks are fostering the brother and sister and hope to adopt them as well. Watching the older siblings struggle in foster care was one of the reasons Mark and Katie stepped up when Paisley was born.

“I don’t want her to not know what her daily routine is going to be,” Katie told Magistrate Paul Rattermann during the adoption hearing. “I just want her to be in a safe place. I love her as my own.”

HCJFS case worker Maggi Erhart said Katie keeps a strict schedule for her children, providing Paisley and her siblings with the stability they need to thrive.

“This is the best place for her,” Erhart said about living with the Hughbanks.

Case workers for HCJFS and its partners work hard to make sure Paisley and others like her can survive the hardships created by heroin addiction and find stable, loving homes.