KK's Life story

As a child, I experienced abandonment and had to protect myself while living on the streets. I wandered the streets of India, desperately seeking my parents and any shelter to stay alive. Among the trains I rode, there was one that was stationary and I could sleep on. I was found by an Indian police officer who took me under his wing. The police officer took me to the orphanage for me to be dropped off. I can't exactly recall the duration of my stay at the orphanage. I believe it was 2-3 years. I was adopted at the age of 4 by an American Family. I had 3 other adopted siblings.

As a young girl growing up in my adopted parent’s house, I experienced many obstacles in my path. I was very athletic and had a deep love for playing soccer. Despite that, I experienced countless obstacles including stress, anxiety, rebellion, fear, rejection, nightmares, low self-esteem, absence of love, and insecurities. I had many patterns of disobedience, self-harm, communication with boys, sneaking out, disrespectful, and disruptive conduct toward my parents. My teenage self was incredibly restless and unfocused.

I experienced abuse within the household. It's been going on for three to four years. I felt like I lost my dignity and my identity when this was happening to me. I was too afraid to tell my parents what was happening to me. I decided to not tell them because I was scared that they would know if I was telling the truth or not. I finally got to the point where I told them the truth which led me to run away. I've been getting tired of being treated like this. I ended up running away to my ex’s house, and the police officers were looking for me that night I ran away. I remember I had an amber alert for my search.

I've been away for three days, it was very scary to be away from home, but I did not feel comfortable going back. I remember when I went to school, I acted like everything was normal. I remember speaking with my counselor to let them know what was going on at home. I recall they brought the DFCS to see me at school and talk about my situation. DFCS told me if I kept running away, I would be put in foster care. In my Latin class, the teacher told me to go to the office. I felt that my parents were in the school looking for me. I saw them and I started to hide in the bathroom, then I a-walled my 4th-period class and left back to my hiding spot.

On the last day of my runaway, I went back to the house to get clothes, but then I got into an argument with my family and became disruptive. I was apprehended by the police, handcuffed, and sent to juvenile jail for 5 days. I've never been to juvenile jail before. The women who worked there asked why I was there. I told them that I ran away, and had property damage, and battery charges. They also claimed I was too innocent and that this was not the place for me. Those 5 days were extremely isolated. On my last day, my lawyer informed me that I would not be returning home and would be placed in foster care due to the abuse that was occurring in the household.