Crying for Help

Just two weeks after saying farewell to Justin, their first foster child, Casey and her family are asked to take on a new child, Sophia, who is a troubled 13-year-old with a particularly sad past. Two years ago her mother fell into a coma; she remains alive in hospital, but is in a persistent vegetative state. It′s been established that the coma was the result of an insulin overdose, apparently self-administered in a failed suicide attempt. Sophia has been in care ever since. A meeting is arranged for the Watson′s to meet Sophia, who is currently staying at the home of another foster carer, who is suffering some sort of breakdown. The plan is that Casey′s more robust fostering programme might help sufficiently modify Sophia′s challenging behaviour so that she can be placed within a regular family home. Right away, Casey feels something isn′t right. Sophia′s a well-developed girl who looks like more like 18 than 13. She only seems to have eyes and ears for the men in the room, and treats all the women with contempt and disgust. When Casey takes Sophia to visit her mother in hospital she is struck by how childlike and bizarre her behaviour is. A showdown in the hospital with her grandparents quickly reveals there is a lot more to Sophia′s back story than has been disclosed so far. As Sophia begins to settle in she starts to reveal shocking details that she′s never spoken about before. But as her violent behaviour and attitude pushes things to the limit and threatens the safety of all the family, Casey starts to question whether she can handle this damaged and fragile girl.