casa-case-children-48.html
0417 APRIL
49 / 104
casa court appointed special advocates the caseworker to review the file, contact the
child
?s guardians, and meet the
child
to get their point of view. after these initial steps, the advocate volunteer conducts interviews with everyone involved to complete the big picture of what is best for the
child
. ?ey write a court report in addition to verbal recommendations. ?ey summarize the state of the
child
and suggest their recommendations. ?our advocates are lay
volunteers
appointed by a judge to give recommendations for the best interest of the
child
ren. a lot of people don?t realize how serious it is what we do. ?ese families are in crisis, but you have to come back to permanence and focus on long term for the
child
,? liz emphasizes. casa
volunteers
must keep in mind that ?foster care is designed to be a temporary solution. ?e whole purpose of
child
protective services is to get
child
ren into safe, permanent homes. it requires some strategy to stay focused and that?s why the supervisor and volunteer work together on that strategy.? although much is required of casa
volunteers
, meagan believes it is all worth it. she shares, ?it has increased my empathy for social workers,
child
ren in the state?s custody, for the parents that may lack resources, the families of
child
ren, foster parents, the attorneys. now i fully understand the process and all the entities involved.? she beams with passion as she discusses her role at casa. she loves to work with teenagers and build rapport with them. she enjoys giving the
child
ren time to vent and verbalize their feelings. she asks them where they want to live, and ?if it?s a positive desire, i try to make it happen through the image that i paint in the court report.? with this level of dedication, the one difficulty in volunteering is when a judge does not follow the recommendation. ?it?s a hard pill to swallow because you go home with these negative feelings that you did not do all you could for the
child
,? meagan says. liz and her team advise the advocates during training that their recommendations may not be followed, but it does not mean their hard work is for naught. ?e casa staff recruits, screens, trains, and supervises 80 hardworking
volunteers
at any given time. liz shares how the organization has evolved, ?when the board hired me, their goal was a volunteer for every foster
child
in east baton rouge parish. ?ere were 12
volunteers
serving 24
child
ren in 1992. in 2009, we hit that mark, a casa for every
child
. we have served every
child
since 2009.? ?ough they have been operating near their desired mark recently, the august flood has impacted their field of advocates. ?we are really struggling to have enough
volunteers
right now. we need
volunteers
from all walks of life. right now, we particularly need african american
volunteers
. it?s very rewarding work, and no special skills are needed. we teach you what you need to know.? meagan implores that people who have time should come to orientation just to see what they can offer. liz stresses, ??ere is no more important thing for
child
ren than a safe permanent home. for every
child
that we can move out of foster care and into a permanent home, hopefully they are going to have a greater chance of being a productive member of this community.? ? ca s a o r i e n tat i o n dat e s find out how you can be a voice for an abused or neglected
child
while they await a safe and permanent home during one of these 45-minute informational sessions. t h u r s
day
, a p r i l 6 at noon t h u r s
day
, a p r i l 11 at 1 p.m. t h u r s
day
, a p r i l 27 at 3 p.m. w e d n e s
day
, m ay 3 at noon t h u r s
day
, m ay 11 at 11 a.m. m o n
day
, m ay 15 at noon s at u r
day
, m ay 20 at 10 a.m. t u e s
day
, m ay 23 at 6 p.m. w e d n e s
day
, m ay 31 at 3 p.m. april 2017 | brparents.com 49
bunny-easter-little-50.html
