The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had 15 different foster placements before moving to his current children’s home.
He argues that Essex County Council failed to properly consult him or give sufficient consideration to his individual needs when making the decision to close the home.
Essex is planning to close all but one of its eight children’s homes.
The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) is acting on behalf of the teenager in the case, which is due to conclude at the High Court in London today (25 November).
Julia Thomas, the boy’s solicitor, said: "Many of the children and young people affected by these closures are those who simply cannot cope in a conventional family environment. The decision taken by Essex County Council is resource-led. The result could be that vulnerable children and young people are placed in unsuitable placements unable to meet their needs."
A spokeswoman for Essex said the council was unable to comment on the individual case.
But she said the local authority had undertaken "an extensive analysis and options appraisal programme" to decide on the future of residential care for local looked-after children.
She added that the new model of provision would be needs-led, not resource-led.
"Because we ‘block purchase’ in house residential placements we are forced into ‘fitting’ young people into the vacant ‘beds’ and not commissioning placements to meet the identified, individual needs of the child," a statement from the council said.
"However, it is evident that many of the young people we need to place in residential care need a high staff to young person ratio and a 24/7 curriculum that integrates the health, education and social care needs of young people.
"Our own in-house homes are unable to provide the same staff to young person ratio at a competitive cost or provide an integrated approach to health, education and social care aspects of development."
NYAS is also representing five other children and young people in three of the other children’s homes destined for closure. The judge is expected to make decisions about their cases once the verdict on the 17-year-old boy’s case has been made.
In future, residential care in Essex will be outsourced to either private or charity-run care.
