Nicholas Stroeder, a 13-year-old Level 3 sex offender, probably won’t be returning to the Child and Family Services building north of Oak Harbor.

Kathy Spears, a media relations officer with the Division of Child and Family Services, said the boy will be staying at a foster home in the Taylor Road area of North Whidbey until Friday.

By then, Spears said that — with any luck — the department should have found a permanent placement for Stroeder.

“We’re doing everything we can not to put him back in the CPS building,” Spears said. “People are very, very busy trying to find him a place to live.”

The case got Seattle media coverage when Stroeder was placed in the Oak Harbor CPS office building after getting out of juvenile jail Dec. 31. A social worker had to supervise him one-on-one all day. At night, an off-duty deputy was paid $40 an hour to “babysit” him.

The Department of Social and Health Services has had trouble finding a permanent home for Stroeder, who is considered a high-risk to reoffend, because there are not adequate facilities in the state.

Stroeder was brought to Oak Harbor because family members live in North Whidbey, but they won’t take him.