Over the past fiscal year, CASA provided more than 70 children experiencing foster care with a voice in court through the hard work of their team of volunteer advocates.
“There are still about a couple dozen more children we could be serving if we had enough volunteer advocates from our community,” said Executive Director Christopher Janetzko. “It is our goal to be providing every child in our community with an advocate that will serve as the child’s voice in court and be a consistent presence in the child’s life throughout their time in care.”
The advocacy provided by CASA helps ensure that every child experiencing foster care in Hood River, Wasco, and Sherman counties has the opportunity to transition successfully into adulthood. Studies have shown that children with a CASA volunteer tend to perform better academically and behaviorally, have fewer placements, and are more likely to achieve permanency.
CASA’s primary form of advocacy is through submitting court reports to present judges a fuller picture of what is happening in the child’s life. Volunteers devote hours getting to know the stories of the children for whom they advocate and then carefully crafting reports to supply the court with an understanding of that child’s everyday life.
While DHS workers tend to maintain a broader and more clinical overview of the case, CASA volunteers are able to focus solely on the children, painting a more detailed account of their perspectives, hopes, and needs. These reports contain both observations and recommendations regarding the best interest of the child.
Sometimes, the contributions CASA provides children are seemingly small, such as helping a child get a free bicycle from Anson’s Bike Buddies. Other times, CASA’s input completely changes the direction of the court case by equipping the judge with a clearer picture of the child’s needs. Whatever the contribution may be, it is never too small or too large in bringing support to our community’s most vulnerable children.
CG CASA’s next training sessions for new volunteer advocates will start Sept. 27 and continue through Nov. 1. The classes will be on Tuesdays from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The training sessions provide volunteers with all the tools they need to be an advocate for a child.
Those interested in joining CASA’s team of advocates should call the CG CASA office at 541-386-3468 or email CG CASA’s training coordinator, Mike Mayfield, at mmayfield@gorgecasa.org for more information.
CASA is partially funded through grant contracts with United Way of the Columbia Gorge and the State of Oregon.
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