CASA Volunteer Makes Real Difference in Life of Foster Child

Volunteers provide consistent, impactful adult presence until child
reaches a forever home

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–John Luke came into the world facing an uphill battle. Born extremely
premature and exposed to street drugs during his mother’s pregnancy, his
future was uncertain when his mother announced, upon admission to the
hospital, that she did not want him. With no father or other family
member to step forward to take responsibility for him, John Luke entered
foster care medically fragile and in desperate need of someone to fight
on his behalf. That someone was Toni Williams, his Court Appointed
Special Advocate, or CASA volunteer.

Williams met John Luke at two weeks old, as he clung to life in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She stepped in and became a voice
for John Luke during this critical time in his physical and emotional
development. She provided the human touch and bonding required for him
to thrive, and she advocated for him to receive the vital rehabilitative
services he needed in order to flourish as a premature baby.

“I committed to being a stabilizing, familiar force in his young life
until we found John Luke the right forever family,” said Williams.

Williams later advocated for John Luke to be adopted by a qualified,
loving family. Now a happy toddler in a forever home, John Luke is
developing better than specialists expected. Williams continues to be a
part of his life. Together, their story points to the tremendous impact
a CASA volunteer can have on the life of a child, and the personal
fulfillment a CASA volunteer gains from assisting a child at the time of
their greatest need.

When a child enters foster care because his or her home is no longer
safe, a CASA volunteer can be appointed by a judge to represent a
child’s best interests. A volunteer guides a foster child through the
overburdened and complex child protection system with the goal of
reaching a safe and permanent home. Volunteers often become one of the
only consistent adults for a foster child, spending a significant amount
of time with the child.

The work of a CASA volunteer also involves gathering information from
everyone involved in a child’s daily life, including family members,
foster parents, teachers, doctors and social workers. CASA volunteers
use the information they collect to report to the judge, advocating for
the child’s physical and emotional needs. They are not foster parents;
they are highly trained community advocates acting as a powerful voice
for a child or sibling group.

Williams encourages people from all walks of life to become a CASA
volunteer, especially those from the Hispanic and African-American
communities because it is important for volunteers to reflect the
diversity of the children they serve.

“A CASA volunteer who looks like the child benefits them in intangible
ways and helps them develop a positive self-image,” said Williams.
“There is no greater personal reward as a CASA volunteer than seeing a
child whom you helped thrive in their forever home.”

How to Help

To learn how you can help children in your community, find your local
CASA program at BecomeACASA.org. Volunteers must be 21 years of age or
older and willing to commit to at least one year of advocacy. No special
educational background or experience is required.

About Texas CASA

Austin-based Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is the
statewide organization of 72 local CASA programs that recruit and train
volunteers to advocate for children in the child protection system. Last
year, 8,476 well-trained volunteers served 25,947 children in 207 of the
254 Texas counties. Texas CASA supports the local CASA programs by
advocating for effective public policy for children in the child
protection system and by providing funding, training and technical
assistance to program staff, board and volunteers.

CASA volunteers are everyday members of the community doing
extraordinary work by choosing to speak up for abused and neglected
children in their communities. They are screened and trained, then
appointed by the court to advocate for the best interests of a child or
sibling group in the foster care system. Often the CASA volunteer is the
one constant in a child’s life while he or she goes through the
overburdened system. CASA volunteers work to move the children through
foster care and into safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible.

www.TexasCASA.org
| Twitter.com/TexasCASA
| Facebook.com/TexasCASAInc

Contacts

GDC Marketing & Ideation
Emily Price, 210-538-2835
Sr.
Public Relations Account Executive
eprice@gdc-co.com
or
Texas
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)

Leslie Morton,
512-610-6101
Training & Communications Director
lmorton@texascasa.org

Recibe gratis todas las noticias en tu correo

Este sitio está protegido por reCAPTCHA y Google Política de privacidad y Se aplican las Condiciones de servicio.

¡Muchas gracias! Ya estás suscrito a nuestro newsletter

Más sobre este tema
Contenido Patrocinado
Enlaces patrocinados por Outbrain