Serenity was born May 13, 2010, and removed as a toddler from her home when her mother violated the terms of her parole and was returned to jail to serve the remainder of her sentence. Her grandparents were convicted felons (fencing stolen goods) and were not eligible to foster Serenity, and she became a ward of the state.
Reportedly, Serenity had been in 10-12 different foster homes in two years before 2013 when she was placed with the family that would later become her adoptive parents.
Serenity was adopted by Chad Dennard and his ex-wife in 2014 but the couple divorced in 2015. Chad and his now-wife Kassandra had been raising Serenity together since 2015-- until they placed her in the children's home society where she disappeared from in 2019.
Since following the missing O & O West toddlers from California City, I can't help but wonder why Serenity, then a toddler, would be transferred to so many foster homes between the ages 2 and 3. It seems a toddler would be easier to place, and keep in place, right?
To be clear, Serenity spent the majority of her life (from age 3 to 9 when she went missing) with Chad Dennard and his wives, and she was not in the foster system when she vanished.
Reportedly, Serenity was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), according to her step-mom Kassandra.
RAD occurs when an infant or young child doesn't establish healthy attachments with their parents or their basic needs aren't being met, according to the Mayo Clinic, while DDMD results in children having "extreme irritability, anger and frequent, intense temper outbursts," according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
If true that CPS was responsible for relocating Serenity to a dozen homes as a toddler, I hope that legislation can be written to prevent this or anything known to contribute to RAD from happening to another child.
MOO
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