Over 6,000 Riverside County children will spend time in foster care this year, and dedicated volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) can change their lives.
Ahead of Foster Care Awareness Month in May, Voices for Children, the nonprofit organization that provides youth in foster care with volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), has released an urgent call for Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers in Riverside County to speak up for the needs and well-being of children in foster care.
More than 6,000 Riverside County children will spend time in foster care this year due to abuse or neglect. While social workers, attorneys, and judges strive to make the best decisions for children’s well-being while they are in foster care, their heavy caseloads often limit the time they can devote to each case. A social worker may juggle a caseload of 25–35 families, a lawyer may support 100–150 children, and judges often oversee 500–700 cases.
CASAs, however, are the ones who step in and provide stability for these children while they are in foster care. CASA volunteers are specially trained and appointed by judges to advocate for children or sibling groups while they are in the foster care system. Importantly, CASA volunteers devote their attention to one child or a sibling group at a time, advocating for them in court reports to ensure that any legal decisions meet the child’s needs. They also advocate for children in school and other settings; and get to know everyone involved in the children’s lives, including their parents, foster parents, teachers, doctors, family members and others.
CASA volunteers advocate first and foremost for these children to be reunified with their parents whenever safe and possible. In fact, a core part of their role is to help create and strengthen a lifetime network of relatives, family friends and other committed adults who can support the child and their parents during their involvement with foster care and beyond – increasing the likelihood for reunification. When reunification is not an option, they advocate for the child to live with another relative or family friend. They can also advocate for the child to be placed in a loving adoptive home.
A CASA’s advocacy is unique because it is based on an individualized understanding of the child’s needs. CASAs are important to youth in foster care because they provide stability and support, identify needed resources, and advocate for them in court, schools, health care settings, and more. When paired with CASA volunteers, children have better chances to succeed later in life and to form meaningful relationships with the adults, caregivers, and guardians around them. Over time, a CASA often becomes the most consistent person in a child’s life.
“Many of the children we serve in Riverside County have never had a consistent, stable adult in their lives before meeting their CASA,” said Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, President & CEO of Voices for Children. “Just one caring adult can make a huge difference for a child who has experienced trauma and neglect. We urge anyone who is looking for a way to give back to their community in Riverside County to consider becoming a CASA.”
Riverside resident Mariana Robles, Voices for Children’s 2024 CASA of the Year for Riverside County, is a shining example of how CASAs are champions for the children they serve. Mariana, who is bilingual, recently helped one set of three siblings reunite with their mother by providing extensive assistance and translation help for the mother, who only spoke Spanish. She helped the mother with school enrollment and forms for one child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) and even attended parent-teacher conferences with her. This outcome would not have been possible without Mariana’s dedication to the wellbeing of those three children and their entire family during a difficult time.
The organization urgently needs more volunteers, particularly male CASAs and those who are bilingual in English and Spanish, to ensure a trained CASA is provided to every abused, abandoned, or neglected child who needs one. Since 2015, Voices for Children has served thousands of Riverside County children in foster care with CASAs.
To learn more about the valuable work of CASA volunteers and how you can get involved, please visit speakupnow.org.
To find the next CASA volunteer information session near you, please be sure to select “Riverside County” after visiting this link: https://www.speakupnow.org/volunteer/volunteer-information-session/
If you would like to book a speaker from Voices for Children for your organization or event in Riverside County, please contact Kathi Urmanita at RCVolunteer@speakupnow.org or 951-391-8873.
ABOUT VOICES FOR CHILDREN
Founded in 1980, Voices for Children (VFC) transforms the lives of abused, neglected, and abandoned children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside Counties by providing them with trained, volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs). CASA volunteers advocate for a child or sibling group in foster care in court, school, and the community to ensure their needs are met. VFC believes every child deserves a safe and permanent home and strives to provide a CASA volunteer to every child in the foster care system who needs one. Last year, VFC CASAs and staff provided direct advocacy to nearly 2,300 youth in foster care across San Diego and Riverside Counties as well as case monitoring services to hundreds of other children in foster care who might need an advocate in the future. For more information, visit speakupnow.org.
