April is Child Abuse Prevention Month: Becoming a CASA volunteer is one way to provide necessary support

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Although the month of April is designated as a time to be particularly aware of this issue, unfortunately, child abuse is a plague that happens all too often every day of the year.

The statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Prevent Child Abuse Iowa show that the number of children in abusive situations or those being neglected are staggering. In 2014, in Iowa there were 7,429 cases of child abuse. Daily in the United States, 1,900 children are abused. Four of those children die. Three-fourths of those abused or neglected are under the age of three.

Child abuse often scars an individual for his or her entire life. Research has shown that abused or neglected children are more likely to struggle in school, have run-ins with law enforcement, experience homelessness, or abuse drugs or alcohol. Abused children are more likely to repeat the pattern of abuse with their own children.

CASA VOLUNTEERS
Prevention is paramount but how can children who have already experienced such devastation be reclaimed? Who will speak for these children? The answer lies with the Iowa Child Advocacy Board as one such organization which strives to help heal the victims of child abuse and neglect. Their goal:  to make sure all children have a stable, permanent living environment where they feel safe and loved.

Part of the services of this organization is to train Court Appointed Special Advocates, CASA volunteers, who make sure that the children can live in a safe and permanent family. CASA volunteers advocate for a child so that the child doesn’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service systems or languish in unsupportive foster homes. The CASA volunteer’s advocacy moves the child through the system into a safe, permanent home.

Waukon area native and current Lansing resident Kerry Brennan is the area’s coordinator of the Iowa Child Advocacy Board. She recruits and trains the volunteers for a seven-county area of northeast Iowa. Currently there are 30 CASA volunteers in this area.

Brennan stated that one difference between CASA and the Department of Human Services (DHS) is that a typical case load for a DHS case worker is 26 cases at any given time. The CASA volunteer works with one child, or perhaps siblings, as that child goes through the court system until the child has a safe, permanent home. 
 
QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
Brennan’s background is in social work, but any adult can be a CASA volunteer. Applicants will undergo a background check, an interview and 30 hours of training. The training is done as locally as possible and involves situations like working through a hypothetical case study from beginning to end so that the volunteer knows the procedure once he or she has been assigned to a child.

Monthly in-services are also offered to help the volunteers keep up to date on laws and procedures. There are few expenses to the volunteer, other than travel. Volunteers are not paid. CASA volunteers are appointed by the court to a child ranging in age from infant to 18 years of age.

THE WORK OF A CASA VOLUNTEER
The volunteer then observes and gathers information from a variety of sources. The CASA volunteer works as part of a team of individuals whose objective is to strengthen the family unit or put the family back together if removal has occurred. If that is not possible, especially if the child is in foster care, the objective is to find a permanent home where the child will feel loved and safe.

The role of the CASA volunteer is to advocate or speak for the child. This will involve visiting with the child one or two times a month, talking with others about the child’s situation and writing reports to be given to the judge to help him or her make the best determination for the child’s safety.

Brennan emphasized that this is not a Big Brother/Big Sister or mentoring program, explaining, “CASA volunteers fill a distinct role for the child. They offer a child hope that there will be a better tomorrow. In the United States, fewer than half of the children in foster care have a CASA. Children shouldn’t have to be lucky to have a CASA assigned to them. CASA volunteers play a vital role in speaking up for what is in the best interest of the child. They are legal advocates who give a child a chance to overcome the effects of abuse.”

CASA volunteers stay with a child until the court case is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. This is typically a timeframe ranging from a year to 18 months.

REWARD AND CHALLENGES
Renowned television talk show host Dr. Phil and his wife, Robin, are the national spokespersons for CASA. A visit to their webpage, :http://www.drphil.com/shows/page/CASAvolunteer, offers testimonials from children who have been helped by CASA and explains how the system works.

Jen Englehardt and Bill O’Connor are two area CASA volunteers who have worked with the program for about three years. Each feels the rewards lie in seeing children either reunited with their families or established in a better family situation.  O’Connor explained his reason for being a CASA, “Kids are so important. They have the greatest potential and yet are the most vulnerable. The second reason is that these kids can use an adult resource that is a positive influence in their lives; maybe my presence can help the kids experience a new adult relationship. We have to be the adult for this kid, to draw out things that are concerns for the kid.”

He continued, “The reward is seeing the kid get to a place where he or she has  a safe, permanent home. We hope that there can be reunification with the family, we work with the court and DHS to see if we can get the kid back with parent(s), but there has to be  clear evidence that it is a safe, permanent place for the kids.”

Both CASA volunteers say that they spend about 10 to 15 hours per month working as an advocate for the child they represent. This includes time at hearings, time writing reports, meeting with the child once or twice a month, and interviewing others who are involved with the child’s living situation. The CASA volunteer tries to see the big picture of all the aspects that affect the child’s welfare.

Englehardt heard about CASA in one of her Human Service classes at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC). She has always enjoyed volunteering and thought advocating for children seemed like a great way to help them.

She stated, “These kids need a voice. There are too many instances where the kids won’t speak up or are too young to speak up. They need an outsider looking in.”

Englehardt feels that a CASA volunteer needs to be someone who is caring and understanding but who is also objective. “To me, a  CASA volunteer has to be able to separate the emotion from the situation and to have an understanding of some of the problems, like addiction, that can affect an entire family," she explained. "CASA volunteers need to be supportive and encouraging, but we also have to be realistic. It’s amazing when a family can be helped and taught a better way to make choices. It’s really exciting when a family can be reunited. But sometimes, that doesn’t happen and then I’m happy that the child will be in a safe environment but it’s sad for the parent who can’t change.  Being a CASA volunteer makes me really feel good because I’m possibly making a difference in a child’s life when he or she might not have the voice or are afraid to speak up for themselves.”

BECOME A CASA
During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, community members are invited to learn more about the work being done and to consider becoming a CASA volunteer. For more information about how to get involved with the Iowa Child Advocacy Board (ICAB), contact  Kerry  Brennan at 563-538-4649 or kerry.brennan@dia.iowa.gov. Even those who cannot become a CASA volunteer can be an advocate by taking steps to make their local community safer for children:
• Be mindful of the signs of abuse and neglect in children, such as a lack of adult supervision, extreme passivity or aggression, or poor hygiene.
• Be aware of warning signs in parents, such as showing indifference or rarely touching or looking at their child, constant verbal criticism, demands for perfection, blaming the child for family problems, or other irrational behaviors.
• Anyone who thinks a child is in immediate danger should not hesitate to call 911.
• Anyone who believes a child is being abused or neglected is urged to report their suspicions confidentially to the state’s toll-free child abuse hotline at 1-800-362-2178.