The Phone Call at 2 A.M.

When the phone rang at 2:14 on a Tuesday morning, Rachel Dominguez was grading seventh-grade essays at her kitchen table in Tulsa. The voice on the other end belonged to a DHS caseworker. Three siblings — ages two, four, and six — needed emergency placement tonight. Their mother had been hospitalized. There was no family available.

Rachel was twenty-six, single, living in a one-bedroom apartment. She had completed her foster care certification three months earlier, mostly because her pastor had asked for volunteers. She had imagined maybe one older child, someday, when she felt more ready.

"I don't have enough beds," she whispered. "I don't even have car seats."

"We can help with that," the caseworker said. "We just need your yes."