[quote style=”2″]When Children Are Removed from the Home, CASA Serves as Their Voice[/quote]
When young children are removed from the home due to problems with the parents, they face an uncertain future.
Where will they stay? Will they ever return home? Who will look after them? Generally, the answer to the first question is a foster home. The answer to the second question depends upon whether or not their parent or parents can get their own lives in order. The answer to the third question is a court-appointed special advocate or CASA.
Jesus Rome is the coordinator for CASA of Umatilla County. His job is to recruit and train volunteers to serve as court-appointed special advocates for the children. There are currently 147 children in foster care in Umatilla County. Fifty of those children are being served by 21 CASA volunteers. There aren’t enough volunteers to look after the other 97 children. Rome is hoping to find 30 to 40 more volunteers to work with the remaining foster care children.
“The goal is to get the kids back to their mom and dad if possible,” Rome said Thursday at the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce luncheon. If that isn’t possible, then finding a safe, permanent home, most likely through adoption, becomes the goal.
Rome said the longer a child stays in foster care, the more likely it is the child will face risk factors that lead to delinquency and trouble with the law. In many cases, it is drug and alcohol use by the parents that lead to a child being removed from the home for their own safety. Mental health issues with the parents are also reasons to remove a child.
Once the child is removed from the home, a court-appointed special advocate is assigned to them, if one is available. The special advocate acts as the voice of the child in the courtroom. When the court appoints a CASA volunteer, he or she is responsible for gathering information and helping secure a safe, permanent home for the child as soon as possible. They visit the children, interview parents and relatives and consult with teachers and foster care providers. They also appear in court to advocate on behalf of the child’s needs and best interests.
It takes 30 hours of training to become a CASA volunteer. Once they are fully trained, volunteers typically spend 10-20 hours per month over the next 12 to 18 months working with the child and family.
“CASA volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds,” Rome said. About half of them are retired, he said. Rome said it takes no special skill to be a CASA volunteer.
“You just have to have a passion to help children,” he said.
For more information, call 541-289-8850 or send an e-mail to casa@umchs.org or visit the CASA website.
