I wanted to revisit Foster Care before the month's end because the needs are so great... Today's post is another great way to get involved and help young people in the foster care system. Today's post is a little longer than usual, please take a few minutes to read this post and check out the links for additional information and thoughtfully consider how you might be able to help.
Each year, approximately 780,000 children in the US are caught up in the court and child welfare maze because they are unable to live safely at home. Imagine what it would be like to lose your parents, not because of something you did, but because they can’t—or won’t—take care of you. Now, into these children’s lives come dozens of strangers: police, foster parents, therapists, social workers, judges, lawyers, and more. Hopefully, one of these strangers is a CASA volunteer.
CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them.
Volunteers get to know the child and meet with the people who are important in that child's life: family members, teachers, medical professionals and others. Their research informs the decisions of the judge and ultimately helps the child to find a safe, permanent home.
Being a CASA volunteer does not require any special education or background, simply the desire to help abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes.
So what does it take to become a CASA volunteer?Stand up for foster children so that they can stand a chance.
•The first step: Every volunteer passes a background check and participates in a 30-hour training course.
•After successfully completing the training, the volunteer is assigned his first case. A volunteer's average time commitment to a case is approximately 10 hours per month.
•Volunteer advocates are asked to dedicate themselves to a case until it is closed. The average case lasts about a year and a half.
•Advocates are supervised every step of the way and always have resources readily available.
Your local CASA program offers a volunteer opportunity like no other. As officers of the court, CASA volunteers, also known in some areas as volunteer guardians ad litem (GALs), are empowered to make a lifelong difference in the lives of abused and neglected children.
Last year, our 68,000+ CASA and GAL volunteers advocated for 240,000 children—an impressive number yet just a third of the children who pass through the child welfare system each year. Our volunteers are an amazing force for good, but we need more of them. Our vision is that every child who needs a volunteer will have one. With your help, we can reach that goal.
There are more than 1,000 CASA and guardian ad litem program offices training volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children across the country.
Ways to Help:
Volunteer - find a program in your community and read volunteers' stories.
Read what Judges are saying about the impact of CASA volunteers.
Donate online to CASA & other ways to give.
Connect with CASA on Facebook.
Source: www.casaforchildren.org
No comments:
Post a Comment