Before his 5th birthday, Parker’s birth father had been incarcerated, and his mom, pregnant with his sister Eliza, was living with a new boyfriend who was physically abusive. At 8-months pregnant, mom tested positive for meth and Parker tested positive for cocaine through exposure in the home and was subsequently placed into foster care. When Eliza was born, she was placed with Parker who was staying with his grandfather. Soon after they entered foster care, a judge assigned a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate for the two children.
It quickly became apparent that Parker would need a significant amount of therapy for development and educational delays. The CASA worked tirelessly to find creative solutions to get Parker connected to the services he needed, despite frequent roadblocks. It was particularly challenging for the grandfather, who was elderly and struggling with his own health, to care for two young kids. Eliza, who had been exposed to a significant number of dangerous substances in utero had a lot of health issues of her own which needed to be addressed once she was born, including having to detox from meth in her system. Meanwhile, their mom continued to spiral into drug use and was evicted from her home. She and her boyfriend were living in a tent after Eliza was removed and the social worker and CASA on the case worried that she wouldn’t be able to get her life on track to get the kids back.
Tragically, almost a year into the case, the grandfather died unexpectedly, throwing the two siblings into another season of change and loss. As they transitioned into another foster home, the kids relied heavily on their CASA as a familiar and comforting adult.
It was at this time that mom started to engage with the social worker on the case to receive the services she needed to get back on her feet. Mom was able to get into a domestic violence shelter, where she was able to get clean from her addictions before transitioning into long-term housing. Slowly both kids transitioned back to live with their mom. To everyone’s relief, mom jumped right in to get Parker to all the appointments he needed to continue his healing process. Now, several months in, mom and kids are doing well together.
