Most of CASA’s case studies involve infants and young children; however, the largest single contingent of children in foster care are adolescents between 12 and 21 years of age. CASA advocates are playing an important role in assuring services are provided these young people to prepare them for independent living once they age out of foster care.

Sarah was 20 years old when the judge assigned her case to CASA. Sarah was 10 when she was placed in foster care because of her mother’s substance abuse.

Diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bi-polar disorder and asthma, Sarah had had multiple placements in foster homes. She experienced frequent hospitalizations for psychotic episodes and often would disappear from the foster home with no one knowing where she had gone.

Nine months before Sarah was to turn 21 and age out of the foster care system, the judge put CASA on the case. CASA inherited a very complicated situation.

Sarah was living with a foster mother, but frequently took off for days or weeks at a time. While she was away, she did not take her medication. As a result she often had psychotic episodes requiring hospitalization.

Sarah had no relatives willing to take her in, the foster mother was unwilling to let Sarah remain in her home after she turned 21 and the foster care agency made no attempts to locate housing for Sarah after her 21 st birthday. If this remained the situation, Sarah very soon would be homeless.

CASA’s goal was to find appropriate housing and services for Sarah with a permanency planning goal of independent living.

The CASA advocate located a service provider that offered case management to adults with mental health conditions. The service assists individuals with all aspects of their condition—job training, applying for supervised housing, psychiatric and psychological services. At CASA’s suggestion, the foster care agency referred Sarah for this service, which in turn referred her for supervised housing. She was placed on a wait list.

Sarah was still on the wait list when she turned 21. To avoid her being put out on the street, CASA asked the Administration for Children’s Services to grant an exception to policy which allowed her to remain in foster care.

It looked like Sarah’s problem was solved three months after her 21 st birthday when a supervised housing placement became available. What seemed to be a solution hit a snag when the housing facility could not contact the foster care agency to get approval for Sarah to move in. Since the service provider had only a few days before it would have to take Sarah off the wait list and give the placement to someone else, it called CASA.

CASA tried repeatedly—and unsuccessfully—to reach the foster care agency. CASA relayed the problem to the judge who ordered the foster care agency to call the supervised housing facility immediately.

Because of CASA’s unrelenting efforts, Sarah is out of foster care and living in supervised housing with case management to assist her with her special needs and medication. Sarah’s law guardian thanked CASA on the record for its help in obtaining services for her. The law guardian stated that things moved very fast once CASA was assigned to the case.