Spencer is a 10-year-old boy who has been living in a family-style therapeutic group home for one year. He was removed from his mother's care due to neglect from her drug use and the resulting legal issues that led to a brief incarceration followed by her discharge into a halfway house. He has monthly calls with his mother, but she is still struggling with drug dependence and is not actively involved in Spencer's life. Since there is no family in the area, both reunification and adoption are being considered, depending on mother's progress.

Spencer's aggression was the reason he was immediately placed in the group home rather than a foster home. Historically he had a higher level of aggression compared to his peers (which is why he originally got involved with football - "to blow off steam"), but his aggression only magnified when he was removed from his mother. While he usually behaves in the group home, Spencer sometimes misbehaves when he is feeling angry about not having a "real family." Spencer only occasionally gets along with the other kids in the group home and at school.