by KYW's Larry Kane
Produced by Hadas Kuznits

Fourteen-year-old Latifa is ambitious:

"Yeah, I want to be a doctor."

(Kane:) "So that means you must really care a lot about people."

"I like to deal with kids."

She likes to what every teenager her age likes to do:

"I like to draw, color, go outside and hang with my friends, go to the mall and the movies."

And Latifa likes school, too:

"I like math, social studies, and science."

She has a lot of friends at school. How does she define a friend?

"Someone who you could trust and someone you can tell all your secrets to and always be there."

(Kane:) "Now, always being there -- that's part of what you want in parents, right?"

"Yeah."

And parents are what she doesn't have -- but wants:

"Someone who can love me, to always be their daughter even though I'm adopted. Someone that will let me be free. I also want to have rules though. But let me do something that I like to do, but not always be so scared about what I'm going to do and someone that will let me be myself."

Helena Monk, Latifa's family service specialist, says she's learned a lot from this young girl:

"I've learned that when given the opportunity to learn how to deal with feelings, that they can respond and do better."

And her dream for Latifa is that she will be adopted, soon:

"She needs permanency in her life. She needs to know that someone wants her, someone can provide for her and love her and guide her into adulthood."