Serving Children Living in Foster Care amid COVID-19

This has been a crazy year – the pandemic, the shutdown, the loss of income, security, education and lives. The list of traumatic experiences is often too much to comprehend. As unbearable as our recent lives are – some of these experiences are not new to children and youth living in foster care. In fact, our current health crisis, in many ways, makes their burden heavier.

Imagine that you are a child experiencing abuse or neglect and you are removed from your home for your immediate safety. Everything that you know and love is missing. You are in a strange home in a different town – your life is shattered.

The child did not cause their removal, just as we did not cause this pandemic. Both situations, however, force us to adapt to the circumstances and trauma that it causes. Adults adjust to changes more quickly than children which is why providing a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer to a child living in foster care – especially during this health crisis – is critical.  

The support that a CASA volunteer gives is remarkable. They establish a relationship with the child and makes sure their best interests are a priority. They present well-researched, comprehensive reports to the family courts making recommendations that affect the overall wellbeing of each child. Most importantly, they ensure that the child receives the care and resources they need and helps them return to a safe home.

During COVID, a CASA volunteer can be a lifeline for children disconnected from school, friends, and their families. At the start of this pandemic, CASA volunteers quickly adapted visits to online sessions so that they could continue to see and interact with the children and help them feel connected. They make sure that family visits remain a priority and that critical needs such as groceries, technology for school, and other essential items are available to the children. Most importantly, CASA volunteers help guide the children through the trauma of the removal and the added anxiety of this pandemic.

Someday, COVID will diminish but the trauma and challenges faced by a child who is removed from their home and placed in foster care will still need the hand of a CASA volunteer to help lightened the burden. That hand can be yours.

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Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Children’s mission to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children is central to fulfilling society’s most fundamental obligation to protect a child’s right to be safe, treated with respect and to help them reach their fullest potential. For more information about CASA, visit AtlanticCapeCASA.org.

Community Members Can Make Life Better for Vulnerable Children

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and our attention rightly turns to ways we can support children who have experienced abuse or neglect. According to the US Children’s Bureau, 687,000 children lived in foster care in the United States due to abuse or neglect in 2018. According to Kids Count New Jersey, nearly 500 children and youth lived in foster care in Atlantic and Cape May Counties during the same year.

For children to thrive despite abuse or neglect, resilience is the key. The most common factor in developing resilience, according to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, is having a stable relationship with a supportive adult.

That is where Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children of Atlantic and Cape May County steps in. We recruit, train and support volunteers who get to know the children and their families, and advocate for those children’s needs in court. Our volunteers are part of an expansive network of 93,300 volunteers across the country who care deeply about children and are working to make life better for those children living in foster care

The children that CASA serves have often been disappointed or hurt by the adults in their lives. Parental drug abuse, and the child maltreatment that is often associated with drug abuse, accounted for more than one third of child removals nationwide in 2018. For children living in these situations, they become accustomed to being over looked and it is difficult for them to trust or open up to others – even those who may be able to help them.

By developing relationships with these children and advocating for their needs, CASA volunteers can make a major impact in mitigating the long-term damage from abuse or neglect.

Although babies are at the highest risk for maltreatment, older youth are most in need of advocates. Nearly 20 percent of children in foster care nationally are age 15 or older. In Atlantic and Cape May Counties, that number is 12 percent. Experiencing abuse or neglect has long-term consequences for these youth.

The US Children’s Bureau has found that at age 17, more than one quarter of youth in foster are referred for substance abuse treatment or counseling at some point. By age 21, 20 percent of youth who were in foster care at age 17 had been incarcerated within the prior two years. Additionally, by age 21, 22 percent of former foster youth had given birth to or fathered a child and 42 percent experienced homelessness at some point.

A stable relationship with a supportive adult – like a CASA volunteer – can help children do well even when they have faced significant hardships. At age 17, 94 percent of youth in foster care reported that they had a supportive adult in their lives who they could rely on for advice or emotional support. Because of this, we continue to have great hope for these youth despite the long odds against them.

Nationwide, CASA programs serve approximately one-third of older youth in foster care. In Atlantic and Cape May Counties, 94 percent of foster youth have a CASA volunteer. Our volunteers undergo training to understand the impact of trauma on children. They advocate for services that promote healing and help children build resilience. The work CASA volunteers do is life changing, and sometimes lifesaving.

Especially now, as we are experiencing a global health crisis, foster youth need advocates. Many of our children are from vulnerable populations who will be dramatically affected by this pandemic – losing the meals they depend upon at school, missing school lessons for lack of internet, or simply increasing the anxiety in children already traumatized by their experience.

Additionally, we have to consider the children not yet assigned a CASA volunteer, or those who will enter the system while this crisis is still unfolding. We need to ensure that those children will also have the benefit of a CASA volunteer to advocate for their best interest – especially during this complex time and long after this crisis ends.

Visit https://atlanticcapecasa.org/getinvolved/ to start the process now.

 

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Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Children’s mission to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children is central to fulfilling society’s most fundamental obligation to protect a child’s right to be safe, treated with respect and to help them reach their fullest potential. For more information about CASA, visit AtlanticCapeCASA.org.

COVID-19: Using Self-Quarantine as a Self-Reflection

Like many of you, we are paying close attention to the evolving COVID-19 situation locally and nationwide. While we must take prudent measures to help keep our children, volunteers and stakeholders safe, CASA of Atlantic and Cape May Counties is exploring every possible way to continue our advocacy efforts in order to fulfill our critical mission and support the children and families we serve.

During a crisis – be it a hurricane or a pandemic – the need for CASA grows even greater. Many of our children are from vulnerable populations who will be dramatically affected by this health crisis – losing the meals they depend upon at school, missing school lessons for lack of internet, or simply increasing the anxiety in children who are already traumatized by their experience.

The children we serve still need our advocacy, so we have moved all in-person visits to video and phone check-ins while in-person visits are not possible. By adjusting our practices and protocols we can prioritize safety while still supporting our essential role for children and balancing the health and safety of our volunteers. By employing these few alternatives to face-to-face child visits, we will provide a seamless continuation of care for our existing CASA children.

Additionally, we still have to think about the children who are not yet assigned a CASA, or who will be entering the system while this crisis is still unfolding. We need to ensure that those children will also have the benefit of a CASA volunteer to advocate for their best interest – especially during this complex time and long after this crisis ends.

Therefore, we challenge you to use this self-quarantine as a time of self-reflection to commit to helping your community and the life of a child in need by becoming a CASA volunteer.

We will be moving our information sessions, pre-training interviews and volunteer training process entirely online to keep our prospective volunteers and our staff safe. We are still ready for you to become a CASA volunteer – please consider joining us!

Visit https://atlanticcapecasa.org/getinvolved/ to start the process now.

 

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Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Children’s mission to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children is central to fulfilling society’s most fundamental obligation to protect a child’s right to be safe, treated with respect and to help them reach their fullest potential. For more information about CASA, visit AtlanticCapeCASA.org.