How CASA fought for two little boys

Eli was only five years old when he and his baby brother, one-year-old Noah, were spotted playing alone near heavy traffic on North Nevada Ave. in Colorado Springs.

When officers rescued them from the dangerous situation, they found their mom at home. With a history of mental health issues and methamphetamine use, the mom called the boys “evil” and willingly turned them over to the Department of Human Services.  Their father was incarcerated in another state at the time.

It was September of 2021 and it was their second time entering the foster care system. They went to live in the foster home they had lived in once before. With the addition of Eli and Noah, there were seven children in the home.

Local advocate finds new purpose in life

That same month, Mark Davis was sworn in as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (or CASA volunteer).

“After 26 years in the computer field, I stopped working in 2010,” he explained. “I had to go on disability because I’ve had MS for a number of years. The symptoms were keeping me from working full time and I had just been sitting around. I thought to myself that I still have a purpose in my life and I had been to Light of Hope. So CASA came to my mind and I went to an information hour. The rest is history.”

Mark was quickly assigned to Eli and Noah and when he went to visit them in their foster home, he could tell things weren’t going well.

“Noah would throw himself on the floor in rage. He was kind of showing some eating disorder signs and was acting like he wasn’t getting enough food,” said Mark. “And Eli was acting out. He was saying really inappropriate things to adults and fighting at school.”

Finding permanency for the boys

As the kids were struggling, their father was released from prison and both biological parents launched separate fights to regain custody. These efforts only prolonged the boys’ struggles because neither parent ever cooperated with their court-ordered treatment plans.

Meanwhile, Mark was fighting for the kids’ best interest. He is the one who made it possible for Eli to play sports – something often taken for granted by kids not growing up in foster care.

“He wanted to play on the trampoline and, and his biological mom wouldn’t give permission for the foster family to let him do that. Then he wanted to play baseball,” Mark said. “I remember going to court and telling the judge that he wants to play t-ball, and that it would be good for him to do that. So the judge allowed it.”

Mark had so much fun attending the t-ball games to cheer on Eli.

He also advocated for the boys to change foster homes, writing in his court reports that he didn’t believe the environment in their first home was healthy for them. Eventually, the boys were moved into the home of a young couple – Michael and Darcy – who wanted children but were unable to conceive.

“It was like night and day,” recalls Mark. “Noah’s eating disorder became non-existent. He wasn’t showing any of those behaviors. He wasn’t throwing tantrums. Eli totally straightened out and he’s actually a brilliant kid. He’s read more books than I have.”

The young couple immediately became like family, taking the boys to Disneyland and spoiling them on Christmas.

A brand new start to a bright future

Adoption became a clear path forward for Eli and Noah, but Mark says he had to temper the couple’s enthusiasm a bit while waiting for the termination of parental rights to take place.

Michael received a military transfer order during this time, and he was able to delay it once because of a pending adoption. When the second transfer order came through though, there was no delaying. Mark had been advocating for termination of parental rights so that Michael and Darcy could adopt the boys. By the time the second order came through, the adoption was in progress and Mark helped the young couple get the court’s permission to move the boys out of state.

Eli and Noah are now nine and five, thriving in their new school, in a new state, in the loving home of their adoptive parents.