July is National Make a Difference to Children Month, and Voices for Children’s Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers help vulnerable children living in foster care cope with unimaginable challenges. These advocates ensure children they serve are safe, and their needs are met as they navigate living in foster care. Voices for Children is the only nonprofit certified by courts in San Diego and Imperial counties to recruit and train CASA volunteers.
Each CASA volunteer undergoes extensive background checks, makes an 18-month minimum commitment to the program, and completes a 35-hour training program focused on all aspects of a child’s well-being and development.
“We train and support CASA volunteers, so they have the skills, knowledge, and preparation necessary to advocate for their assigned children,” said Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, president & CEO at Voices for Children in a press release. “Time and again volunteers share with us how they are changed and inspired by the resilience they witness in the children they serve.”
Voices for Children Board member Susan D. Huguenor, a retired juvenile court judge, said that she observed firsthand the impact that CASAs have on their case children.
“CASAs are confidants and advocates for the kids, enabling judges to see and understand the youth they preside over,” she said. “CASAs truly change lives.”
CASA volunteer José Contreras said that people who volunteer get more out of being a CASA than they put into their volunteer efforts.
“I’ve learned to be humble about the situations people are in. I’m more careful about prejudging people because you never know where they came from or what they’ve been through,” he said, adding that one of his most impactful moments was visiting his case child after a successful reunification with his family. “Seeing the entire sibling group back together was incredibly rewarding. The child appreciates everything I do for him, and the mother appreciates that I have been a positive male role model in his life. I feel honored to help guide children’s futures.”
This past year, over 1,300 CASAs and Voices for Children staff supported more than 3,400 youth in foster youth between San Diego & Riverside counties. But more children come into care across the region and need a CASA every day. To learn more about becoming a CASA or donating to the program, visit speakupnow.org.
