Volunteering

I've decided to become a volunteer with CASA of Franklin County. CASA (short for Court Appointed Special Advocate) is a country wide program designed to help kids who have been abused and neglected and find themselves in the court system. All kids in the system are assigned a court appointed guardian, usually a lawyer, to advocate for them. However, they have multiple kids that they are appointed to and might not always know each case very well. Same thing is true for the social workers involved. This is especially difficult for kids who are too young to talk or have been too traumatized to speak out. CASA was created to help keep these kids from falling through the cracks. CASA volunteers are appointed guardian for only 1 or 2 cases at a time, which allows them to really get to know the kids. The volunteer also helps all the parties involved, biological parents, foster parents, children, potential adoptive parents, etc. know what is happening with the case. They will make sure everyone knows about court hearings and what is going to happen during the hearing, as an example. The CASA is also responsible for visiting the child(ren) at least monthly to see how they are doing and ultimately making a recommendation to the court as to what is the best solution for the child.

I have to go through a tour of the system in a couple of weeks, including spending some time in court. I also have to have a background check and go through 40 hours of training, then I will be sworn in. After that, the time commitment is really only about 10 hours a month. This was something I have wanted to do for years, but always thought that I was too busy. But my life isn't going to get any less hectic anytime soon, and really 10 hours a month just isn't that big of a deal. I can't think of anything else I could do for only 10 hours and still have such a big impact on someone's life.