Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City

The ACS representatives reach Dasani at Hershey during Columbus Day weekend, when most people are gone. She is watching the movie Unbroken, a biopic about a WWII pilot detained by the Japanese. Against Chanel’s request, they inform her of the situation. Later, Dasani will speak with her mother through the home phone. Chanel is furious that ACS informed Dasani of this situation without her consent, and believes “[t]his is how they break the bond” (473). Dasani’s behavior consequently deteriorates, and she slips down the Hershey scale just as school begins. Her houseparents try to help her by pointing out that they have had a lot of painful experiences as well.

Dasani’s siblings have been placed in foster homes with various families throughout the city. The children seem to be on their best behavior, except for Papa, who acts out by digging a hole in his faster parents’ yard, filling it with water, and “slinging mud at a neighbor’s house” (475). Chanel contacts the ACS supervisor who went to visit Dasani and expresses her frustration at the decision, informing them that it has affected her performance and her behavior.

Dasani manages to go without outbursts for some time, but she has stopped tracking her goals.