Dallas CASA volunteer Kathy was worried about the newborn twin boys she was assigned to advocate for.

“These boys had such a rough start to life,” she said. “They were born small with multiple illegal substances in their systems and had referrals to an allergist, a cardiologist and an ophthalmologist all within hours of birth. Their roads ahead looked challenging.”

Jonah and Josiah were placed in a foster home with four older siblings, including one with special needs. The foster parents didn’t miss a beat. Within days, they had the boys and all their doctor visits worked into the family schedule with ease.

The boys’ mother had been battling drug addiction for many years. No one in her family was able to take the boys in. The judge assigned her parenting classes and drug and alcohol assessments, but she did not begin services.

Meanwhile, the boys were beginning to improve after their rough starts. The foster placement had received permission from Child Protective Services to feed the boys breastmilk from the local milk bank, in the hopes it would help them grow stronger. The cardiologist and ophthalmologist cleared the boys, though Jonah was still dealing with eczema so bad he felt awful much of the time. When the boys needed helmets to correct their head shape, Kathy and the foster placement worked together to find a local nonprofit that provided a grant to cover the cost.

Josiah was quick with a smile, but it took Jonah longer to warm up on visits from Kathy. As the foster placement sought dermatologists and allergists to help with Jonah’s skin condition, he started to feel better and also warm up to Kathy.

“There was just a lot of love in their house,” Kathy said. “Seeing them there was so rewarding. The parents had a calm, warm demeanor, and from the start they had help from church members who helped things run smoothly in a busy home with six kids.”

The longer the boys were in the foster home, the more they seemed like they were home. The placement had only initially been open to fostering, but as the boys’ mother continued to struggle with her drug addiction, the placement began to consider adoption.

The boys were adopted in October. Posing in the tiled court hallway with a sign that read “510 days later … Peace out, foster care,” they smiled in matching shirts that read “We were worth the wait.”