reporter: carla fell behind on her education, too. at 16 when the state found out she wasn t in school, she was taken away from her mother and placed in foster care. has it been a good experience or a bad experience? well, for me, i think it s been good. i have, you could say, a family. reporter: now just as carla says she is finally feeling like she is part of the family the whole number is dwizable by three. reporter: and beginning to catch up in school and making friends for the first time, carla turns 18, the age when foster children emancipate or age out of the system. do you feel you go out there, make your money and pay for your bills and take care of yourself? no. not yet. reporter: once you are emancipated could you turn to your father for help? it s been really hard for me. the fact that i never met my dad
home is the only real bedroom karla has ever known. my mom, she started having mental problems, and that s whether everything just went bad. from the age of ten, she says, she and her mother lived in homeless shelters in orange county. i pretty much didn t get to be a kid. karla fell behind on her education too. at 16, when the state found out she wasn t in school, she was taken away from her mother and placed in foster care. reporter: has it been a good experience or bad experience? well, for me, it has been good. i have, you could say, a family. reporter: now just as karla says she is finally feeling like she is part of a family. the whole number is difficult visible by three. reporter: and beginning to catch up in school and making