Ashley stepped out of Sandy’s red-and-white van. The 10-year-old didn’t say a word, didn’t glance back at Sandy, her adoptive mother. And she refused to meet the hazel eyes of the man waiting in front of her.
Mental Health
Butch and Sandy Kimmerling wasted no time. Soon after child welfare officials voted to allow a gay man to adopt the foster child who had been living in the Kimmerlings’ home for five years, Butch and Sandy contacted their pastor.
Ashley would be exploited, abused and, ultimately, abandoned by people who said they cared about her. And her invisible wounds would persist for decades.
This story is part of a series called In Recovery, about opioid addiction and treatment in the San Joaquin Valley.
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This story was produced as part of a larger project led by Nicole Hayden, a participant in the USC Center for Health Journalism's 2019 Data Fellowship....