A Steady Presence Through Every Transition

For a young person in foster care, change can come often and without warning: a new home, a new school, a new set of people learning how to help.

For Marah, who recently turned 18, the years since she first came into care have brought one transition after another.

At 12, Marah was removed from the care of her biological parents and placed in foster care following significant childhood trauma. In the years that followed, she experienced several placements while working to cope with the effects of that trauma, including challenges with emotional regulation, relationships and trust.

Then came 2025, a particularly difficult year. Marah lost her biological mother while also experiencing difficulties at school and in her resource home. Despite support from her care team, including individual and family therapy and additional services through Casa Pacifica, it became clear that she needed a higher level of support.

For five months, Marah received therapeutic treatment through Casa Pacifica’s Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program, where she found greater emotional stability and developed stronger coping and emotional regulation skills.

When she returned to the Foster Family Agency/Intensive Services Foster Care (FFA/ISFC) program, her team continued working with her and her caregivers to find the right support.

When challenges with attachment and relationships emerged again, respite support from a former resource parent eventually led to Marah returning to that home, a familiar and supportive place to land as she approached adulthood.

Through every transition, one thing remained constant: her Casa Pacifica team.

The FFA/ISFC team continued to advocate for Marah, collaborate with county partners and, perhaps most importantly, provide a safe and consistent place where she could be heard. Multiple Casa Pacifica programs worked together around her needs, creating continuity of care rather than asking Marah to start over each time her circumstances changed.

That continuity matters.

“Your past doesn’t define you,” Marah says. “Yes, your past matters, but it’s not you as a whole person. Also, you’re not your parents.”

Today, Marah is a senior in high school and has transitioned into Casa Pacifica’s Transitional Youth Services Stepping Stones program as she enters extended foster care. She enjoys baking, cooking, reading and spending time with family. She is continuing to build the emotional regulation, communication skills and resilience she has worked so hard to develop.

And she knows something important about herself: she can advocate for what she needs.

Her advice to other young people in foster care is simple: “It’s important to be a strong self-advocate and communicate your needs to your team and resource family.”

Marah’s journey to adulthood has not been easy. But she has not had to navigate it alone.

Your support makes that kind of continuity possible. Your generosity helps Casa Pacifica provide the people, programs and resources young people need—not just during a crisis, but through the many transitions that follow.

Because of you, a change in placement does not have to mean losing the relationships and support that help a young person keep moving forward.

For Marah, there were people who stayed.

And because of you, Casa Pacifica can keep showing up—through every chapter, every transition and every step toward a young person’s future.