>> reporter: drama came with it, huh? >> oh, yes, oh, yes. >> reporter: veronica tried for years to find annie a stable home. but after annie had been flung back to the state nine times, veronica, young, naive and stubborn, made a surprising decision to adopt annie. did your superiors tell you, you know, we don't do that, veronica? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: don't cross that line. you have a professional relationship with this child. but don't bring her into your home. >> well, and that was very true. and because at the time, i also happened to be about six months pregnant. and so i'm sure the thought was, okay, crazy pregnant lady. she doesn't know what she's doing. but it was very much, are you sure? you can't save everybody. >> reporter: but veronica was determined to try. she and her then-husband dennis adopted 10-year-old annie in january 2007. annie, who had bounced around from house to house, finally had a home, parents and brothers who adored her.