CASA for the Highland Lakes Area seeks volunteers to help children in foster care
CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF
KINGSLAND — A nonprofit organization wants to expand a group of volunteers who provide a voice for local children looking to reunite with families or potentially find new homes.
Volunteers with Court Appointed Special Advocates for the Highland Lakes Area fulfill that role for more than 200 children in five area counties.
“The end result is it would be great for children to go back home, but that doesn’t happen all the time,” said Cindy Turner, a retired teacher, who has been a CASA volunteer since August 2012. “When I retired, I realized that this is a whole avenue that I really never understood — the judicial side of it and how parents get help from the judicial side to try to get their children back into their house.”
CASA volunteers are trained and certified to be a liaison between children who are in foster care and the court system as well as various government agencies, healthcare and social resources.
“Some of the issues are health issues. I have one baby that has involved working with Dell’s Children Hospital quite a bit,” said Turner, who monitors and reports for four children 3 and younger. “You have to pay attention to the medical needs, the language, how many services they’re receiving — just keep up with the services.”
Parents typically have a year to win back custody or they might opt to relinquish parental rights, Turner said.
“There is the issue with drugs,” she said. “That’s a lot of time why the parents have lost the child.”
Advocates draw from their own experience and knowledge of families to assist children.
“Working with these toddlers, it’s easier for me because I’m a grandmother,” she said. “I can associate with where they should be in what stages.”
CASA needs more volunteers like Turner, according to executive director Sue Thornton.
“We could not do this work without these incredible volunteers, who give of their heart and their time and their money. (Advocates) speak to the judge directly about what is in (a child’s) best interest.”
The first step is a training session starting Aug. 6 that involves 30 hours of instruction specializing in legal-system procedures, family-resources information and childhood psychology and three hours of courtroom time for nearly three weeks.
“It’s been rewarding to see the children from the time they were taken (out of a household), to see them lovingly being supported,” Turner said. “With all of that I have learned we do need more advocates for the children.”
For more information about applying for the training session, email galyn@highlandlakescasa.com or call (325) 388-3440. Visit the CASA office at 1719 Ridgeview in Kingsland.
Go to www.highlandlakescasa.com for an online application.
connie@thepicayune.com