When a child is removed from their home due to abuse or neglect, they enter the foster care system, and life as they know it is turned upside down. A judge now makes all the decisions that affect their life — from where they go to school to when they can see a doctor and whether or not they can participate in sports or other activities. Judges do this with the help of hardworking attorneys, social workers, and — most importantly — Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA, volunteers.
Last year in Riverside County, 431 of these incredibly special community members stepped up and provided life-changing advocacy for a child in foster care. However, nearly 6,000 children will have to navigate the foster care system in Riverside County this year all on their own. Voices for Children is the sole provider of CASA volunteers for the Riverside County court system. There are currently 187 children who need CASAs, and that number is growing every day. Dozens of those children are in the Coachella Valley. Can you help?
What a CASA does
The job of a CASA volunteer is to be the voice of a child, getting to know them one-on-one and advocating for their needs to the court, to their schools and in their community. The best CASAs build a trusting relationship with their case child so they can learn about their hopes and needs and then relay these in detailed court reports to a judge every six months — or even alert other professionals in the child’s life, such as their attorney, social worker, teachers, medical providers or foster parents.
Why are CASA volunteers are so critically important for children in foster care? Judges, attorneys and social workers are doing their best for every child they work for, but they are stretched thin. A social worker may juggle a caseload of 25-35 families, while lawyers support 100-150 children each and judges oversee 500-700 cases.
Meanwhile, a CASA volunteer only works with one child or sibling set at a time. They often become the most consistent adult in these children’s lives once social workers and attorneys have moved to other cases. CASAs are often the only adult that is not paid to be there for them, and many children are more willing to open up to CASAs for this exact reason.
Judges say that CASA volunteers can make the difference between a child thriving or simply existing as a number during a traumatic time in their lives. “Social workers give me the black-and-white outline of who a child is and what their needs are,” a judge once told me. “CASAs are the ones that color in a full picture of the child, so I can make the best decisions possible in their case.”
While I serve as Riverside County managing director for Voices for Children, I wasn’t always in a leadership role. In fact, I began as a CASA volunteer 15 years ago, advocating for a young girl in foster care. When I learned in separate conversations with her teacher, social worker and foster parents that she seemed unable to focus at school, I suggested she might have trouble seeing the board and therefore couldn’t follow along in class. In my court report to the judge presiding over her case, I recommended we get her to an eye doctor. She turned out to need glasses — and her school performance immediately improved once she had them.
What you can do
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, a perfect time to find out what you can do to support children in foster care. Consider becoming a CASA. Visit speakupnow.org to sign up for a volunteer information session to get more information on what it takes to navigate this incredibly rewarding volunteer position.
You don’t need any special experience or job qualifications. You just need to have a little time each month — probably less than you spend watching your favorite TV show — and a heart for helping children. We sincerely hope some of you reading might find it in your hearts to become a CASA and speak up for a child in foster care.
Sharon Morris is the Riverside County Managing Director for Voices for Children, a nonprofit that recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers who become Court Appointed Special Advocates to youth in the foster care system.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley foster children need advocates. Can you help?
Reporting by Sharon Morris, Special to The Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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