For Kiara, now 23, a lifetime in the foster care system left trauma and deep scars from which she is still recovering.
But one thing is certain – during her time in foster care, she always had an advocate in Mary, her Dallas CASA volunteer. No matter where Kiara was placed, no matter how challenging her behaviors, no matter how poor her choices, Mary simply would not give up on Kiara.
Through 23 placements and seven years, Kiara had Mary.
Kiara first came into care due to her mother’s severe mental illness. She came back into care after her adoptive mother physically abused her and relinquished her parental rights. What followed was a long and chaotic series of placements in residential treatment centers, group homes, emergency shelters, mental health hospitals and more. Kiara was depressed and ran away frequently. Many of her placements lasted less than a month, and she was locked in a cycle of anger and sabotage.
Mary remembers visiting Kiara at a behavioral health hospital after she had become violent in her foster placement, throwing furniture and threatening the foster parent.
“She was in a lock down facility. It was loud, with lots of noises and kids out of control and big security guards. It was a stressful place to be,” Mary said. “When I told her the foster home said she could not return, she became violent and erupted again yelling ‘I can’t believe they’re going to give up on me again.’ It was heartbreaking.”
Many times, when Kiara moved to a new placement, Mary was the only one who could provide her history to the care provider. Without a full history of Kiara’s trauma and behavioral issues, placements were unprepared for her, causing the placement to break down and Kiara to be moved again. With Mary only assigned to one case, instead of a typical CPS caseworker’s load, she had the time to smooth over adjustments.
Mary used advocacy skills honed as a parent to a child on the autism spectrum. She attended many Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) meetings at school for Kiara, getting Kiara to within two credits of graduating high school. She worked to connect Kiara with the resources available to youth aging out of care. And she served as a constant resource to Kiara, even as she ran away, was arrested for assault, spent some time homeless and refused medication after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
“It’s hard when a child is not raised with safety and love to then get things right,” Mary said. “There’s just so much need, and the system struggles to deal with kids with serious mental health challenges.”
Kiara’s case closed when she was 21 and aged out of care. Today, Kiara is incarcerated. She stays in touch with the guardian ad litem assigned to her child welfare case, and Mary remains hopeful that Kiara can find stability in her life.
