A voice for the voiceless: Brush Country CASA in need of child advocacy volunteers
BY ASHLEY TERRY
Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to a two-part series about Brush Country CASA leading up to Child Abuse Prevention Month.
In the heart of every community lies a few unsung heroes who dedicate their free time toward advocating for children in the foster care system, hoping to give a voice to the voiceless.
Children look up to these individuals as their own personal superheroes — but in reality, these volunteers are stronger than Superman, Wonder Woman and Spiderman put together, because they have an even tougher job than saving the world. Though they may not have capes or superpowers, these volunteers are heroes nonetheless, as they each take on the life-changing role of serving as a CASA volunteer.
Court Appointed Special Advocates, abbreviated as CASA, are appointed to advocate for the best interest of a child who has experienced abuse or neglect.
“Volunteers are critical,” Brush Country CASA Outreach Coordinator JayLene Garza said. “The child welfare system is obviously not a perfect system, but the main thing that we tell everybody and anybody is, our CASA volunteers are here to make sure that our kids do not slip through the cracks.”
Each CASA volunteer is trained and works alongside judges, foster parents, teachers and social workers to ensure each child is placed in a secure and loving home.
“They (these children) are going through the most difficult thing that I think a child can go through, and that's being taken away from their home,” Garza said. “They need somebody who's going to provide them that normalcy ... You need somebody that's going to come and who’s going to stay consistent, because our kids can constantly get placed from foster home to a residential home, wherever the case may be, but the one normal thing in that child's life is always going to be their CASA volunteer. Their CASA volunteer is going to continue to go with them everywhere.”
However, despite the vital role advocates play in giving a voice to the voiceless, Brush Country CASA has been experiencing a serious shortage in volunteers. Though the organization does have around 20 volunteers currently, Garza explained that just as recently as January, there were around 50 children without a CASA advocate.
"We are really in dire need of volunteers,” she said. “We continue to get case after case ... We're really in need.”
Garza explained that CASA volunteers work differently than those who work with Child Protective Services. She said for CASA, these advocates are usually assigned to only one case at a time, though one case may involve several children. CPS workers on the other hand, could be juggling as many as 25 cases simultaneously.“Our CASA volunteers, because they (work) specifically with them (their child), they know those needs, and they’re going to be able to say, ‘Hey, my kid is struggling,’” Garza explained. “As opposed to CPS, where it’s very, very hard for them to make sure that they remember every single kid, because they just don’t have as much time.”
The main goal of a CASA volunteer, Garza said, is being able to unite a child with their parents — though sometimes reunification is not possible.
According to Sandra Barrera, who has served as a CASA volunteer for seven years, only a few of her cases have resulted in successful parent reunification. "I've had adoptions, I've had foster cares, I've had (a child go to) an aunt and grandparents’ house,” she said. “Every case is different. Some parents just do not want to do anything from the get go. We have parents that call us and threaten us. They're not going to comply, but we have to still wait the appropriate year before we actually terminate this case.”
Volunteers are required to work on a case for a year, starting with the day that the child(s) get removed from their home. However, once that year has passed and parents’ rights are then terminated, CASA volunteers need to continue working on the case until the child(s) become adopted.
"We have the stories where parents do what they're supposed to do, they go through the services and they get clean, or they take the classes that they need to, and they're able to get their kids back,” Garza said. “We may not be the parents’ advocate, but to a certain extent we are, because our main goal is always going to be family reunification. The goal can always change, but our main goal is about reunifying our kids with their parents. We're sitting here getting the services that these parents need to be a better parent, so that way, when we do place them back with their kids, if that's what is best for the child, then they have everything they need, and now they're able to heal and be a better parent than they were before.”
“I did have a father that stepped up to the plate and finally said, ‘I'm not going to smoke marijuana anymore. I'm not going to put my child through this anymore,’” Barrera said. “But mom continued. As much as I advocated for that mother for half of the year, I had to finally say 'No, what would (this child) do? What would he be telling me?’ If he could talk to me, he would say, ‘Mom, you need to get better. Go to the hospital and get help.’ So, I said, ‘OK, then that's the voice that I'm going to hear.’” Though becoming a volunteer is a big commitment, Garza noted that Brush Country CASA has had several applicants from all walks of life — everything from professors and business owners to stay-at-home moms and military veterans.
"The main quality is just the need to want to help,” she said. “The thing about this kind of volunteer experience is very unique. It is not like, ‘Oh, I'm going to go in on a Saturday and I'm going to volunteer.’ They have to make a year commitment, so we're also looking for people that are wanting to make a difference and have the time to be able to make that difference.”
She said the biggest pushback she receives from potential applicants is that they don’t have enough time to dedicate to working with a child every month. However, Garza explained that most volunteers spend on average of 15 hours a month working their case.
"It's only 15 hours, so that's why I like to mention like, ‘Hey, we have business owners. We have owners that have two businesses, three businesses,’ so it really goes based off of your schedule and when you see your child,” she said. “We love to have all different types of volunteers. We like to have men specifically for boys, especially teenagers, because they're able to relate a little bit more. We're really not picky with our volunteers. We do an interview with them and we ask a lot of questions about their childhood and their upbringing, just to be able to have a better understanding of where we feel like they might fit with another child.”
Once someone shows interest in becoming a volunteer, Garza explained that they will undergo a total of 32 hours of training, both online and in person. She said 30 hours will be spent reading and learning the process while two hours will be dedicated to courtroom observation.
After training, volunteers will be allowed to read court affidavits on why each child was removed from their home. She said CASA will never assign cases to their volunteers; instead, they can have the freedom to pick the case and child with whom they would feel most comfortable serving as an advocate.
“We tell our volunteers this is not something that you want to take lightly,” she said. “This is a child's life that you are going to start becoming (involved in) and you're going to become a part of them. They're going to see you for their birthday, and for holidays during the full year they're in the child welfare system, so you're really going to be able to know them on a deeper level than anybody else.”
For 21-year volunteer Adolfo Espinoza, there was one particular case involving a young boy that sticks out to him, proving that he made a difference in his life.
He explained that the child was around 8 years old when he was placed in a foster home in Houston about 10 years ago. With Espinoza routinely checking in and making monthly visits to Houston, he said he was able to witness the young man finally become adopted by a couple.
"Time passed and I guess I kind of went on with my life, did my thing, and recently we connected, and he's graduating here just next spring,” he said. “I should be making a trip here to his graduation. He says he wants to join the military.”
Espinoza said the most rewarding part about being a volunteer is the knowledge of filling in a gap and knowing that he was a part of a life-changing experience for that child.
"When time passes and you see that 8-year-old graduating from high school, and you know that, ‘Hey, this has worked.’ Though you may not hear it or even see it, they were listening," he said.
“It's really cool to see the relationship that happens even after they're no longer in care,” Garza said. “They still want to have that relationship with their CASA volunteer, because they kind of look at them as a mentor. They're not used to having normalcy and somebody in their life that's always been consistent and present, so I always like to see those types of stories where it's like, ‘Man, it’s been X number of years, and you still talk with them?’ It's really amazing to see.”
Garza said she talked with Espinoza one time about why he chose to become a volunteer, and his answer was simple: “If I have the time, why not?”
"He said, ‘I'm not going to get this time back, so why not do something that is going to impact someone's life?” she said.
For CASA volunteer Barrera — though she said her parents “never put her in harm’s way,” — she did reveal that she had experienced abuse during her adulthood.
“I kept it a secret,” she said. “I never wanted anyone to know.”
It wasn’t until working for the district judge, however, that she realized she had the power to use her own experience to change the lives of those around her.
“He would always send these ladies to me, and so I would tell them my story on how somebody gave me a chance, and that there's programs, and there's help out there,” she said. “We don't have to be in that abusive (situation) and have our kids taken away. There's so many organizations now that I did not even know existed for people like that.”
Barrera said it took her five years after first hearing about CASA to fully make the jump — and she hasn’t looked back since.
"It was a full circle moment for me,” she said. “God had taken care of me, and I was going to give back ... Now, I am the voice for those kids.”
Garza said Barrera had also revealed to her that she wished she would’ve applied for CASA sooner, adding that she knows it’s going to become a part of her legacy.
“She's like, ‘These children impact my life, just the way I impact their life,’” Garza said. “And you know what? I've even spoken with her before, where she tears up because she's like, ‘This is just such a rewarding experience.’ ... I feel like if you talked to every single volunteer, they would just say (how) volunteering has impacted their life in some way.”
Due to Brush Country CASA’s lack of volunteers, Garza encourages anyone who is even slightly interested to simply start a conversation with her to learn more.
"I always tell my potential volunteers, if you feel like this is just not for you, that is OK. We are never going to sit here and scold you or make you feel like you're pressured into doing it,” she said. “You, just sitting and getting to know us, answering our questions, and you asking us questions, like, that's enough for us, because guess what? You just learned about CASA.
“We would literally be nothing without (our volunteers). They're the reason why we continue to have this mission. It's supposed to be a volunteer-based program, and we need volunteers in order to continue supporting the children that are in the child welfare system.”
As for Espinoza and Barrera, they both advised those who are interested to at least become a CASA volunteer for one year.
“The kids know that we're there — that's why it is imperative that we get more advocates,” Barrera said. “Take one case, and if that's not for you, I understand, but take that step for one and then let me know, because it's very hard for me to walk away. I'll do it as long as I can, because there'll be more kids even after I'm gone, because the need and the demand are so great for advocacy.”
"Say ‘Yes,’” Espinoza said. “It's not a full-time commitment ... You can pace yourself with it and still be able to help ... There is a need for volunteers. They are pretty overwhelmed.”
For more information or to apply to become a Brush Country CASA volunteer, stop by the office at 203 S. 10th St., or visit the website at brushcountrycasa.org.
“I was abused myself, and it came full circle,” Barrera added. “God took care of me, and now I take care of his kids. It gives me that pride to be a CASA advocate, and I wear my badge every day. It’s the best feeling ever. It's like taking care of your own kids; that's basically what we do.”