Become a Court Appointed Spcl Advocate for a Child

[David (Premo)]

Want to do good in the local area and go beyond just writing a check, here's an opportunity to consider:

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and our charge this month is to promote awareness of the issue and challenge your readers to help break the cycle.

Approximately 10,000 children are under the protection of the courts today in Maryland as a result of abuse and neglect. Most are living in temporary foster care settings where they wait an average of three years before being placed in safe, permanent homes.

Rather than becoming discouraged by the seemingly overwhelming magnitude of the problem, I encourage the many readers who may be wondering how they can help local children to consider becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for a child.

CASA is a national network of organizations dedicated to ensuring victims of child abuse and neglect their right to grow up in safe, permanent homes. This mission is carried out through the work of trained volunteers who are appointed by the court to serve as advocates for children. There are 15 local CASA programs across the State of Maryland and more than 1,000 volunteers speak up for the best interests of children in the child welfare system.

There is a host of professionals - judges, lawyers, social workers, etc. - who play a vital role in the welfare of children but, with thousands of children under court protection in the State, the system is oftentimes reactive and crisis-driven, and the individual needs and rights of each child can become lost. As a result, too many children languish in foster care, sometimes bouncing from one home to another, changing schools and experiencing separations from siblings.

These children - like all children - deserve the chance to live in safe, loving and permanent homes. That is why CASA exists.

A child with a CASA volunteer by her side is half as likely to languish in foster care and much more likely to find a safe and permanent home. Currently, we can only support about 10 percent of children in the system but, with your help, we can and will do more. We must continue to do our part to ensure that every child in foster care has a committed CASA volunteer advocating for their needs.

Toward that end, we have set a goal to double the number of CASA volunteers in Maryland by 2020. Regardless of where you live in Maryland-there is a local CASA program nearby. Start right now by visiting www.marylandcasa.org or calling 888-833-CASA (2272) to find a CASA program near you and start to make a difference in the life of a child today. With your help, we can break the cycle of abuse and neglect for Maryland's children.

Join us in standing up for the rights of our children.

Zy Richardson
Public Relations Associate
Maryland CASA Association
www.marylandcasa.org

[sinwagon]

I was a CASA most rewarding thing I have ever done until politics of the system and issues with supervisors who liked to take out important information from your report told lies and a director who failed to listen.

Its hard to do when you are a person who is there ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN and their best interests and you have adults who interfere with that in order to cover their own butts and who are more interested in making friends. I was not there to make friends with lawyers or caseworkers. The only person I was interested in being a friend to was the child, unfortunately they didn't like that.

I was told by caseworkers and lawyers on both sides how much the appreciated me and all that I offered but were a select few that were not happy that I did not bend to what they wanted.

With all of that aside, it is a good program and I support its efforts and the job that the volunteers do.

[ladyhawk]

Originally Posted by sinwagon

I was a CASA most rewarding thing I have ever done until politics of the system and issues with supervisors who liked to take out important information from your report told lies and a director who failed to listen.

Its hard to do when you are a person who is there ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN and their best interests and you have adults who interfere with that in order to cover their own butts and who are more interested in making friends. I was not there to make friends with lawyers or caseworkers. The only person I was interested in being a friend to was the child, unfortunately they didn't like that.

I was told by caseworkers and lawyers on both sides how much the appreciated me and all that I offered but were a select few that were not happy that I did not bend to what they wanted.

With all of that aside, it is a good program and I support its efforts and the job that the volunteers do.

Thank you for your openness.

I've been trying to find someone that could give me more information before I make a commitment. I submitted an application for more information and had planned to ask others in the forums if anyone had experiences withy this group.

Those of you that have been involved, I would love to hear from you and what your experiences are (good or bad). It will help me when the time comes to make my decision and that's if they accept my application.

Thank you,
June

[David (Premo)]

Originally Posted by sinwagon

I was a CASA most rewarding thing I have ever done until politics of the system and issues with supervisors who liked to take out important information from your report told lies and a director who failed to listen.

Its hard to do when you are a person who is there ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN and their best interests and you have adults who interfere with that in order to cover their own butts and who are more interested in making friends. I was not there to make friends with lawyers or caseworkers. The only person I was interested in being a friend to was the child, unfortunately they didn't like that.

I was told by caseworkers and lawyers on both sides how much the appreciated me and all that I offered but were a select few that were not happy that I did not bend to what they wanted.

With all of that aside, it is a good program and I support its efforts and the job that the volunteers do.

You can't let the buttheads beat you down -- even though it may be intimidating.

I would be making copies of any reports and noting discrepancies from what I submitted and what the system submitted to the judge in court.

You also have to realize that many of the people that are involved with the system are there only for profit. read Judge Judy's book. She talks about the organizations who lined up to sell their services to the state to help the children. It was just a big payday for them. May they all burn in hell.

[sinwagon]

Yes but when you have a Calvert supervisor name begins with H who had no back bone and the director whose name also begins with H who lies and removes key elements from your report and make things up about what you have done. Then you have attorneys trying to keep you out of meetings, case workers not following through with their obligations or disclosing their entire court file and the director of the CFC doing nothing it makes it difficult. Then the CFC director gets mad when you go to the judge or the head of the Maryland CASA so they try to force you out. Which essentially is why I'm no longer there.

[ShannonM]

Oddly enough I've dealt with a CASA Worker. At the time it seemed like finally someone was going to do something to help. I watched a worker get involved into a case and she made original assessments and attended all the court dates but then the worker got involved with furthering her own career and she was never heard from again. The case is into it's third year now. CASA Worker has been MIA for over a year.

CASA seems like it could be a great program but I haven't seen it work properly so it just is what it is. I'd say they do need decent people to do the job and someone who will stay with the case until it's closed. From dealing with individuals I understand why people don't want the challenge of the job though. It could be rewarding but it wouldn't be easy - too many change opinions and the left never ever knows what the right is doing and forget communication...it simply doesn't exist. It would take a strong individual to do the job right.