Wednesday’s Child: Creative 13-year-old Kaydee hopes to find forever family

SALT LAKE CITY — The average amount of time a child spends in foster care in Utah is about 18 months, according to the Utah Department of Human Services’ 2020 annual report on Child and Family Services. For 13-year-old Kaydee, it’s been six years.

In this week’s Wednesday’s Child, in partnership with Raise the Future, KSL TV visited with Kaydee at Art Haus, where she shared details of her life in hopes of connecting with a potential adoptive family.

Having lived in more than a dozen foster homes, Kaydee said adoption holds a special meaning for her.

“It means to be part of a family, and they care for me,” she said.

Kaydee said she spend some of her early years in Vernal and loved visiting the rodeo. She said she loves animals and hopes to one day be a veterinarian.

“I love playing around with pets, I love pets, I’m obsessed with dogs — that’s why I want a dog when I grow up,” she said.

Kaydee also loves art and music and looks forward to those activities at school.

“I play instruments, I played the trumpet yesterday, so it was pretty hard, it sounded like a squealing thing … trust me, it didn’t sound good,” she laughs.

Kaydee has lived with her current foster family for about three years. While she likes her current placement, she knows it’s not a permanent one.

“She will probably thrive in a family where she could be the youngest in the home, but she’s doing really well in her placement where they have younger kids, she loves kids,” said Alba Cabrera, Kaydee’s youth connections advocate with Raise the Future.

“She’s overcome a lot, losing everything she’s ever known as far as her family, and but she has so much hope as far as finding a family or finding those people that are going to be there for her and support her as she gets older,” Cabrera said.

Striking up a conversation is easy for Kaydee, who chatted away while creating her own mug at Art House. She loves people and she loves to hear their stories.

“She cares so much about people, and she’s constantly wanting to see how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to,” Cabrera said.

Kaydee said she would like potential family to know that she loves to be active and loves playing sports. She also wants them to know she’s a nice person with a lot to give.

“My personality is really nice, and I’m a nice kid. Really nice kid, actually,” she said.

“Kadydee is one of the sweetest girls that I have ever met, ever worked with, she’s just super friendly and will strike up a conversation with anybody she meets and she’s just really sweet,” Cabrera said.

For more information about Kaydee contact Raise the Future at 801-265-0444 or go to raisethefuture.org.