CASA adds 3 new voices for foster care youth, more neeeded

Children in the care of the 36th Judicial Circuit have three new volunteers who will become their voices and work to improve their lives.

The local circuit recently swore in newly trained court appointed special advocates, or CASA members, Dr. Cynthia Brown, Abby Hanner and Dale Kennedy, all of Poplar Bluff.

The program is a national association supporting and promoting court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children, in order to help more quickly provide them with a safe and healthy environment in permanent homes.

Association Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce said, “having CASA available to us is a huge benefit and invaluable resource, not only for the displaced children, but also for the court, children’s division personnel and juvenile officers/workers.

“Our duty, first and foremost, is to seek to reunify the child with one or both parents, as the facts may dictate,” Pierce said.

Continuing he said, “in order to achieve that goal, we need as much information as we can get regarding the child and his or her current circumstances, wants, needs and desires.”

CASA volunteers supplement the coverage by other workers, by spending additional time with children and placement providers, said Pierce, adding the volunteers “in a lot of cases provide me with information otherwise unattainable through the typical processes and channels. They personally connect with each child to which they are assigned, provide to the court and all parties written reports and even, from time to time, give live testimony to advocate for one position or another.”

Pierce tells the new CASAs “not to hesitate to speak up during court, or reach out to me otherwise, if there are special requests or needs discovered they believe are not being adequately addressed. I tell them I guarantee to always have or find a solution to the particular problem, or to even address it in the manner being requested, but that I can guarantee it won’t be addressed if I don’t hear about it.”

CASA circuit program director Judith Moss and Pierce agree. The volunteer becomes the voice of the child in the court system and team meetings.

Moss said, “because their case managers or juvenile officers may leave or be transferred to another program, the child loses a familiar person, but when a CASA is assigned they are involved in the case until the court closes the case. For other programs, the CASA volunteer offers a different perspective and adds information that the team may not know, which would be important to the case.”

Moss said, “the bond you develop with the child is special because, as one child told her CASA, ‘you work for me.’”

Brown, Hanner and Kennedy were at crossroads in their lives when they decided to train as CASA volunteers.

Brown first learned about CASA while serving on the Butler County Community Resource Council’s Board of Directors.

Brown, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has spent the past five years training to become a social worker.

“I saw CASA volunteers in action during my social work field placement with Hannibal LaGrange University’s ADVANCE program,” said Brown. “I completed my social work field placement at children’s division in Butler and Ripley counties. CASA workers were dedicated individuals and true advocates for children.”

Brown hopes to help “the children by making their interest and well-being my priority.”

She added, “as a parent of a special needs child, I have experience with advocating for a child. I am also familiar with some of the process that these children experience. The intense online and classroom CASA training has taught me about CASA protocols. I look forward to helping children. I would encourage adults to become CASA volunteers. You will be a strong advocate for a child or adolescent.”

While Brown was changing careers, Poplar Bluff first grade teacher Hanner was adjusting to becoming a stay-at-home mom.

“I had the privilege of teaching first grade for four years,” Hanner said. “In March, my husband and I were blessed with a baby boy, and we decided it would be best for our family for me to stay home with him. As much as I loved staying home with our son, I quickly realized how much I missed working with and helping children.”

Hanner saw a Facebook post about becoming a CASA volunteer. After researching the program, she said, “I knew that becoming a CASA was the perfect opportunity for me to continue working with and advocating for children in our community.”

“I feel I will be able to help the children I work with by first of all making sure they know that someone cares for them and wants the best for them,” Hanner said. “I will also be able to help by giving them a voice, and making sure their needs are met during a very traumatic time in their lives. There are so many children in foster care in our community that don’t have a CASA simply because there are not enough volunteers.”

Kennedy, the third CASA volunteer sworn in, also was changing his life. He retired from teaching in Texas and moved to Poplar Bluff.

His first experience with CASA was teaching students with severe behavior disorders who were also wards of the State of Texas. One of his toughest students said he had a grandfather in jail and another grandma and grandpa who were not related to him. They grandparents visited him at least once a month.

“My student looked forward to these visits as if it were Christmas day each time they visited,” Kennedy said. “I learned that his ‘unrelated grandparents’ were serving as CASAs for him. I was taken back by the positive changes that could be evoked from a tough kid when he knew someone else ‘had his back.’”

After retiring, Kennedy learned about the local CASA. He not only jumped at the opportunity to work with young people, he applied and was hired as the volunteer coordinator.

“I plan to provide hope in a seemingly hopeless situation,” Kennedy said. “I plan on providing stability to a life currently in chaos. It is my goal to help guide children through a confusing process in the simplest way possible. In short, I want to follow my grandfather’s (John Osmer Kennedy) best advice and ‘leave each child and family better than I found them.’”

Presently, CASA is serving only a fraction of the youngsters who need a voice. Moss wants the numbers to grow.

“We are having a CASA volunteer training class in February,” she said. “We are always looking for volunteers who love working with children. If you have thought about being foster parent but just can’t for various reasons, being a CASA volunteer may be your answer. My goal for the next two years is to serve half of the children in foster care, which would be 150 children. At this time we have 26 volunteers and serve around 75 children a year.”

The Fostering Futures Training, which is for the CASA volunteers who work with older youth and is geared to mentoring as well as advocating for the teen, will begin in March.

Moss said. “The volunteer has access to our staff which consist of myself, who has 40 plus years experience in the child welfare system as a Children’s Division worker and licensed professional counselor (LPC) specializing in children and families, and Kennedy, who has 40 plus years in the educational field.”

Anyone interested in becoming a voice for children may call 573-776-7830, extension 13, or email casa36@thecrc.org to learn more about the program.