CASA program seeks volunteers
From our weekly issue dated August 26, 2009
Selma resident Fred Ball is one of only two Illinois Valley residents who participate in the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.
But opportunities always are available for anyone else wanting to volunteer.
The CASA program seeks to help children who have been taken from their families by the Dept. of Human Services Child Protective Services Division. Volunteers such as Ball, called CASAs, serve as impartial third parties who advocate for a child’s best interests as the cases make their way through the court system.
Ball, who operates Bi-Rite Auto Parts in Cave Junction, has been in the program for eight years. He said that he finds the participation rewarding and challenging.
“It takes some of your time, and it’s something you have to pay attention to,” said Ball, who is the contact person for Santa Claus to appear at valley events.
The Website for the local program, josephinecountycasa.org, states that a CASA’s first task is to independently investigate the causes for a child’s removal from their parents’ home. CASAs participate in hearings to terminate parental rights and follow children through the entire process of acquiring a permanent home.
Ball said that he has worked with 12 children in the time he has volunteered as a CASA. Five of those children were from the same mother, he said.
Out of the 12 children, Ball said that only three ended back with their parents. All the children he has helped were younger, and ranged in age from 3 months to 10 years old.
CASA volunteers have the ability to subpoena people to testify and call witnesses during court cases. “We have as much authority as a lawyer in the courtroom,” Ball said. “Your advice is usually taken, to some degree.”
The CASA program first got Ball’s attention when he was serving as a Boy Scout leader. In that role, Ball said, he had to deal with several parents, and realized that some of their kids simply needed help.
Background checks are required for all CASA volunteers, as is completion of a 35-hour training course.
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Ball said that he spends around 20 hours per month reviewing the cases. He added that he also deals with state officials, parents, foster parents and extended families in order to determine what living arrangement would be best for a child.
State law mandates that the parents should get the child back, if possible, according to Ball.
The commitment level “varies from case to case,” he said. Children are assigned to a CASA through the program, at which point the volunteer researches the case file and then meets the child “one on one.”
CASA volunteers like Ball also check with the child’s school to evaluate their academic performance, and use that as part of the criteria for recommendations to the court. Foster parents still provide housing, food and clothing for the children. Ball said that CASAs stay assigned to the same child throughout the entire process of deciding their future living arrangements.
“They just need someone to be there,” he said, adding that he is still in touch with many of the children he has worked with through the CASA program.
According to josephinecountycasa.org, “A recent audit conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of the Inspector General demonstrates that once a CASA volunteer is assigned, 95 percent of children do not languish in long-term foster care and 90 percent of children do not re-enter the child welfare system.”
For more information on the CASA program, phone 474-5437 or e-mail casa@family friends-gp.org.
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