CASA seeks caring volunteers to help with foster children

Volunteers have a big impact on a child's life.

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They are called Court Appointed Special Advocates and they have committed to be the constant support and reliable friend in the eyes of a foster child. These CASA volunteers meet extraordinary children who have been placed in situations where a family court judge must decide what is good for them. The job is never easy but the CASA volunteers don’t see their place in the child’s life as a job, they see a chance to impact a young person’s overall well being for the future.


The CASA program is a nationwide program that was introduced to Coconino County in 1986 as a pilot program after the success of the Maricopa office in 1985. The opinion of many judges, a month after the program launched in Coconino county, was that it had exceeded expectations and the excellence of volunteers was attributed to the tough screening process. Statistically most judges have since made decisions based on the opinion of the advocates.


With the Navajo Nation located within Coconino County the CASA program has been instructing volunteers to recognize federal Native American laws or tribal laws in family courts. With Native American demographics having high statistics of children placed in foster care, it was necessary to recognize the needs of Native American children and more importantly to understand the way laws mandate different stipulations for the care and placement of Native children.


The CASA program has adapted to teaching volunteers how to delegate for the child in tribal courts. The advocate program became a recognizable addition to the largest reservation in the country.


Coconino County CASA recruitment and training coordinator, Felicia Bicknell, acknowledges the need for more volunteers on the reservation. “Statistically 38% of [CASA] kids are Native American. With Native children we are also dealing with historical trauma, assimilation and [cultural] displacement.” The biggest problem second to having to remove the child from their home is finding placement on the reservation.


The program also teaches a variety of classes in the social service arena that helps to recognize trauma. There is no real way to predict how the trauma will affect the child but the core goal of the CASA volunteers is to be the constant person through the court and foster care placements, which unfortunately could be another traumatic experience without a constant support system. Efforts to see the child while they are in foster care, speaking on their behalf, supportive and encouraging of their health and wellness or just being present as the foster care system tends to have turnovers in homes, case workers or judges.


The program has been racking up the statistics and recognition by state departments across the nation has accredited CASA with changing the whole approach to foster care and the child’s well being. “CASA is with the children through the whole thing because what tends to happens is when the fiscal year is over [the kids] lose their judge, their lawyer and their foster parents. But CASA stays with them.” adds Bicknell


Another reason for CASA’s successful existence that Bicknell addresses is the foster care system is not perfect, and sometimes, foster parents are only in it for the money.
“Sometimes they are in it for the money. So when they are talking to a child it shows, I mean, c’mon, kids are not dumb. The [sense] those things.”


Bicknell also emphasizes that CASA is the person who is also a friend to the child when they feel alone. Most children volunteers remain close though out the entire experience, including helping the child transition to adulthood and out of the foster care system. Aging out of the system is a scary situation and the advocate then becomes a mentor to prepare them for independent living.


The CASA program is currently experiencing a need for volunteers in Coconino County and the Navajo reservation. The call to service is not an easy one to answer but in the age of change and new challenges the program promises to give you a chance to impact, perhaps save a child’s life.


In addition to impacting a child’s life in Coconino County the CASA have recently started to advocate publically for the children taken at the Mexico and Arizona border or during an I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raid. “One of our guiding principles is that children are better off when they remain with their families of origin if safely possible. We know the long-term effects of trauma that children experience when they are separated from their parents, which are most often detrimental to their well-being and can have long-term negative impact.” Stated a recent press release. “We have been deeply concerned about the family separations at the Southwest border and joined many other voices calling on our legislators to address this issue.”


 To research more background information on how to become a volunteer could be found at CASAofCoconinoCounty.org or by calling Felicia Bicknell to schedule an interview at 928-226-5433.


“A child with a CASA is so much more successful than a child without a CASA.” said Bicknell.