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Advocates needed to help troubled kids, CASA says • • • >
Thursday, July 31, 2003 •By Lance Allen •The Daily News• Law Focus
Imagine being alone. Nowhere to go, no one to talk to and no one to turn to for help.
More often than not, thats the situation faced by troubled youth across the country.
Each year in Shelby County, more than 4,000 abused and neglected children begin making their way through the Juvenile Court system. The huge volume provides judges with little time to devote to each child.
Thats where Court Appointed Special Advocates come in.
CASA, a national nonprofit group created by a Seattle judge in 1976, has been active in Memphis since 1986. CASA of Memphis & Shelby County focuses on giving children 85 percent of whom come from foster care a voice in court.
The group served 2,000 children of wide-ranging backgrounds last year.
Our whole premise is to act as a voice for abused children, said Keisha Walker, Memphis CASA deputy director. We do that through our volunteers.
One such volunteer, Denise Benham, estimates that shes worked between 30 and 50 cases since she began volunteering in 1992. She said becoming an advocate for CASA was an easy decision.
I felt it was something I could benefit from, as well as the children, said Benham, a quality analyst in First Tennessee Banks operations department.
She came across CASA through a listing of volunteer opportunities at First Tennessee.
And CASA is always in need of volunteers.
A new round of training classes is approaching the next session starts Aug. 18. Its part of CASAs effort to expand its role in the community.
We would like to get more children represented, Walker said. We probably represent 3 percent of the children that come through the system now. So weve got a long way to go.
Currently, CASA has 200 volunteers in Memphis. The group hopes to increase that number to 300. Anyone over 21, regardless of education or professional background, can apply to become a volunteer.
CASA is, however, careful whom it enlists. Before applicants can enter the two-week training program, they undergo a background check, reference check and interview. If accepted, they embark upon 32 hours of classroom training on issues such as court process, child development, abuse and neglect, advocacy and interviewing techniques.
Once training is complete, the advocates are certified in any state, Walker said. They usually are given cases pretty quickly.
CASA volunteers don't represent children in court, per se, but actually act more like investigators. Their role in each case is to interview people involved and come to a solution, which they present to the judge. Generally, the judge accepts the solution.
Benham said a judge has never disagreed with her recommendation.
By providing an unbiased voice in court, CASA advocates help assure safe homes for abused, abandoned and neglected children.
They act as investigator, attorney, judge and jury and because they serve virtually every role in a case, the advocates must be thorough.
We investigate the case and make a recommendation on what's in the best interest of the child, Benham said. When you go out and investigate, you have to put your conscience in it. This is what's best for the child, so you cant just go to one side. You have to go to all sides involved.
Donna Hiltenbrand, who has volunteered with CASA for eight years, said there is an obvious need for the groups work in Memphis.
I think a lot of times it gives the children one stable person, she said. I don't have a concern at all for the parents wishes. Im strictly concerned with what is best for the child.
Working with the children is rewarding, but has its drawbacks, Benham said.
I enjoy working with the children, (but) it can be very heartbreaking, she said.
CASAs typical volunteers range in age from 35 to 50, and are usually female with at least some college.
Were looking for people with a heart for children, Walker said.
CASA Memphis was founded under the direction of Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth A. Turner. When the organization originated in Seattle, it was Judge David Soukup who conceived the idea of using trained volunteers to speak for children in court. He was concerned over having to make decisions about abused and neglected childrens' lives without sufficient information.
In 1990, the U.S. Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Now, there are more than 900 CASA programs in all 50 states.
In her eight years with the organization, Hiltenbrand has never encountered a time when her help wasn't needed.
I have never once in my eight years called for a case and been told there wasn't one, she said. We certainly need more volunteers because of the sheer numbers of cases.
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