"Therapeutic Foster Parents, Case Workers, Social Workers, and the ATFCPA all play a vital role in helping Alabama's therapeutic foster children have a brighter tomorrow. Without Therapeutic Foster Care, many children would be unable to read, laugh, and play, or even realize the warmth of a loving home. I can't say enough about these dedicated individuals who, every day, open their hearts and homes to serve Alabama's foster children." Rep. Hubbard, 2002

Louise Pittman's pioneering work is most evident in her position as director of the Bureau of Family and Children Services in Alabama from 1964 to 1988. In this position, she developed innovative approaches to adoption services and to staff development.

Ms. Pittman began her work in the social work field as a truant officer and school attendant officer in 1935. During the Great Depression, she had to help families and children obtain adequate clothes and food so that children could go to school. She worked with church groups to set up food kitchens, and in her summers worked with the Works Progress Administration taking job applications.

A graduate with a degree in sociology from Montevallo University in Alabama, Ms. Pittman later attended graduate school at the University of Chicago, where she received her master's degree in social service administration. She was hired in 1938 as a special child welfare worker. In 1940, she began working with the State Department of Public Welfare in foster care and adoption. She has been active in Child Welfare League of America, American Public Welfare Association, and NASW. She retired and currently lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

Darla Evans personifies child advocacy. She is what "Building Partnerships: Working Hand-in-Hand" is all about. Darla and her husband, Randall, wanted children of their own, but had not been able to conceive. Knowing that they had a lot of love to share, they decided to become foster parents. They were licensed as DHR foster parents in 1982 at the age of 23. Their first baby came within weeks of being licensed. He was 9 days old and weighed less than 4 pounds. They were terrified! He only stayed a few days before being returned to his mother. Their next child came just a few days later and stayed 6 months. Their third placement came in the summer of 1982. She was a 3-year-old deaf child, and her referral had been to every county in the state. Initially, the Evans said no because they knew nothing about deaf children and, besides, they wanted a baby. After three calls from the social worker, one in which the social worker assured Darla that the child would be returning home to her mother at the next court date, they agreed to take the child. However, 5 years later she was still with the Evans. Following TPR, the Evans adopted Shelly. By that time, Darla had given birth to two children of her own AND had been foster mother to over 75 more children. Of that number, most were "temporary or emergency" placements that often lasted for weeks at a time. Their regular placement children were primarily "failure to thrive and drug babies." She and her husband sometimes had as many as 11 children in their home for weeks at a time. For more than 11 years, they had babies in diapers, sometimes as many as three at a time.

The Evans family had a steady flow of children in their home over the next 8 ½ years. All total, they were foster parents to more than 100 children. They took extraordinary measures to accommodate the children in their care. Once they sold their home and moved just so Shelly could be zoned for a school that met her needs. Somewhere in there, Darla gave birth to a third child. But that did not slow her down. Putting her children’s needs first, she enrolled Shelly in the Talledega School for the Deaf, but refused to leave her overnight. That meant a daily round trip of 100 miles from Minor (on the western side of Birmingham) to Pell City to meet the bus to Talledega. In addition, she made regular school delivery and pick-ups for her other children and breast-fed the baby between stops.

She was called to take 10-month-old twins as an emergency placement. The twins were in pitiful condition when the social worker left them at her home. Their stomachs were distended and their teeth were rotten. either child would take the bottle or baby food. Darla called several times to ask if she could take them to the doctor, but was advised that it was not possible as the twins were to be administratively discharged to their mother the following morning. Being an experienced foster parent, Darla was well aware that the routine procedure for emergency medical treatment was to contact the "on-call" worker for permission. She did that knowing the social worker with whom she had spoken earlier would not be the "on-call" worker. Following several long hours at the emergency room at Children’s Hospital, she left with a letter from the doctor stating this was the worst case of malnutrition he had ever seen. Within hours of learning what she had done, the children were removed from her home and returned to their mother. Darla decided that day to quit being a foster parent with DHR. Four years later, the twins were found locked in a room, hand-cuffed together, suffering from neglect and malnutrition. Darla was called testify at the TPR by the guardian ad litem.

In 1986, Judge Charles Nice spoke at a Foster Parents Association meeting about a program called CASA that he was starting in Jefferson County Family Court. This was the first CASA program in the state. Frequently feeling frustrated by the lack of input she had into the court process, she was eager to become involved. In Jefferson County in 1986, foster parents were lucky to even know about an upcoming court date, and they were never allowed to attend court proceedings. Darla applied to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), went through the training, and was appointed the very first CASA case in Alabama. For 4 years, she was a CASA volunteer and a foster parent. At some point, the pressures of both roles became too much, and Darla chose to give up CASA and continue being a foster parent.

In 1991, she was licensed with Family and Child Services as a therapeutic foster parent. Jefferson County’s first therapeutic foster child was placed with the Evans family primarily because not only were they trained, they had already been fingerprinted. She had 3 emotionally disturbed children placed with her by that agency. She left the agency and foster care completely after her last placement was shot and killed by the child's boyfriend. The young teenager shared a birth date with Darla’s son, and she was buried on the day Darla gave birth to her youngest daughter.

Darla took time for her heart to mend and her spirit time to heal. She devoted herself to her own family and became very active in church and school affairs. But she missed the challenge of dealing with the system and helping children who cannot help themselves. After much prayer and consideration, she contacted the Jefferson County CASA Program Director about returning as a CASA volunteer. Instead, she was hired as the part time CASA Case Coordinator for the Bessemer Division of the Jefferson County Family Court. Not only is Darla the Case Coordinator, she carries a caseload of almost a dozen cases herself. It is not unusual for her to drive three hundred miles to do a home study or to secure information she knows the judge needs when making a decision about the welfare of a child in Family Court.

Darla Evans has been a "first" in two very critical areas in the lives of abused, abandoned or neglected children who are caught up in the child protective and family court systems-therapeutic foster parent and CASA volunteer.

 Mr. Duvall is a Youth Specialist with an agency in Kentucky. He shares his experiences as a child growing up in foster care, but with a twist...He is also a professional comedian. He will entertain you with the ups and downs of growing up "in the system." Don't miss this special engagement!

Meet Mr. Duvall

Email: ATFCPA

Return to TFC Conference Home Page