Last year, more than 7,100 children were served by the foster care system in Louisiana. Several hundred of these youth were fortunate to also receive guidance from a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. These adults work with the children during their time in foster care to provide a stabilizing presence, evaluate and make recommendations about the child’s physical, emotional and academic needs; and speak to judges about the status of the case.
Studies have shown that children who have a CASA volunteer by their side are more likely to find a safe and permanent home, more likely to succeed in school, and have significantly higher levels of hope for their futures. However, there were approximately 1,500 CASA volunteers in Louisiana last year, representing a significant gap between children who need assistance and volunteers who are providing it.
“One thing I hear all the time when I’m trying to recruit volunteers is, ‘I can’t do it because I would get too invested and it would break my heart,’” said Amanda Moody, executive director of Louisiana CASA. “We are actually looking for people who care that much. This can be a heartbreaking process, but these kids need a dedicated adult to be alongside them. As gut-wrenching as it can be for adults, it’s even worse for the child who is going through this process. If people think they have too big of a heart for this work, I tell them they are the people we need.”
Volunteers are sworn in to be a part of Capital Area CASA.
Moody said each CASA volunteer applicant undergoes an extensive vetting process, background check and 30 hours of initial training, with 12 additional hours of training each year. Rather than give volunteers a timeframe, Moody said local CASA programs ask them to stay with each child through the life of their foster care case. That can be a year or two, although the time can vary. Most CASA volunteers work with one child at a time, although some more experienced volunteers take on two, particularly if they are siblings.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that we are the Department of Children and Family Services. That is not the case,” Moody said. “Even though we are part of the court system, we are not the court. We are a volunteer-based independent nonprofit. We do expect volunteers to visit with the child at least every 30 days, write reports for the judge to review and attend court hearings pertaining to that child’s case. Volunteers may answer questions from the judge or the attorneys. But, we are not the ones making the final legal decisions.”
Volunteers are sworn in to be a part of Volunteers for Youth Justice CASA.
Kristen Beard first became a CASA volunteer with her local program, Child Advocacy Services, eight years ago when she was a student-teacher and saw firsthand the impact that abuse and neglect had on children. Sadly, those types of cases continue. Last year, Louisiana officials received more than 52,000 abuse/neglect reports and conducted more than 21,500 abuse/neglect investigations.
Beard said being a CASA volunteer can be an emotional experience. Thus far, she has worked with nine children, and has noticed that drug use within families is one of the most common reasons children are placed in foster care. In addition, she has worked with children who have suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Kristen Beard receives the Advocate of the Year award at the annual Louisiana CASA Awards of Excellence.
“You do see a lot of trauma, but the rewarding part is being able to serve as a constant positive influence for a child during the worst time of their life,” Beard said. “They have so much change in their lives. Most of these kids are always going to different homes and schools and families. It’s nice to be that consistent presence and see the growth that they make. Every case I have had prior to my current one has ended with the kid going to a stable environment where I knew they would be okay. There’s no better feeling than that.”
Beard was named the Advocate of the Year last year at Louisiana CASA’s annual Awards of Excellence. She said she is thankful to have a flexible work schedule and a supportive family, including her two teenagers who tell her how proud they are of the work she does. While being a CASA volunteer does take time and effort, Beard said she spends two to five hours a month on her CASA work.
“I think there’s a stigma that this is a second job that takes dozens of hours each week, but I have never found that to be the case,” she said. “It’s not so time-consuming that you don’t have time for other things in your life. I would recommend that people whose jobs don’t have built-in flexibility speak to their bosses about taking off for court dates, because we don’t have control over those. But, I would hope most employers would be understanding and supportive of people who want to volunteer.”
Moody said she has noticed more companies being supportive of employees who want to be CASA volunteers as businesses embrace the idea of giving back to their own communities. In addition to being passionate about supporting children, Moody said CASA volunteers also do well when they are organized, detail-oriented and objective about family backgrounds.
“Being able to collect and analyze information from various sources and put that into a court recommendation is very important,” Moody said. “We also look for people who are non-biased, because we serve children of every race and nationality. However, I do think the most important factor is to have a heart for children. Our staff is available to assist and train individuals on the work as long as the person is passionate about helping kids.”
CASA volunteers are needed on an ongoing basis in all regions of the state. Visit www.louisianacasa.org to learn more about being a volunteer or to sign up today.
