Texas CASA Calls on Community to Serve as a Voice for Vulnerable Children During National Foster Care Month
May 22 2017 - 1:18PM
Business Wire
In Texas, there are almost 32,000 children in foster care
waiting for a safe, permanent place to call home. Many of them are
languishing in long-term foster care – these children are in a dire
situation, facing the possibility of aging out of the system at
just 18 years old without a support system or services they need to
become successful members of the community. In observance of May as
National Foster Care Month, Texas CASA is urging the community to
learn how they can serve as a foster child’s lifeline to a happy
and successful future by becoming a CASA volunteer.
“We are facing a crisis that is not only affecting our most
vulnerable youth, but amounts to significant social costs for our
communities and our state,” said Vicki Spriggs, Texas CASA CEO.
“All children need a strong adult presence in their lives, if they
are to have a bright future. A CASA volunteer can provide this
stable support, and the involvement of a CASA volunteer is proven
to improve a child’s outcome.”
Children in long-term foster care are those who have been
permanently removed from their homes and have seen their parents’
rights terminated. They are typically moved from placement to
placement — in some cases more than 10 times. With each placement
change comes new caregivers, caseworkers, therapists and
educators.
CASA volunteers are appointed by a judge to speak on behalf of a
child’s best interests and to provide a consistent adult presence
in a child’s life during their time in the system. Additionally,
Texas CASA and a select group of local CASA programs are testing
and implementing new, innovative strategies to increase and improve
advocacy for children and youth in long-term foster care.
“We are seeing children growing up in the foster care system
with the state acting as their parent for years, and this is
unacceptable,” said Spriggs. “Children need a safe, permanent home
to thrive, and by testing new strategies, we are improving our
advocacy for a group of children that has suffered for too
long.”
Left without a strong support system, a child in long-term care
is more likely to face incarceration, homelessness and mental
trauma in their later years. By the age of 19, 50 percent of girls
in foster care will become pregnant. A beacon of hope for these
children is the intervention of a CASA volunteer.
CASA volunteers work to provide lifelong, sustainable and
natural connections for children in long-term foster care. By
helping children to build a network of support, connecting them to
services, and maintaining a sense of urgency for finding a forever
home, CASA volunteers work to improve outcomes for Texas’ most
vulnerable children, even after they have left foster care.
How to Help
To learn how you can help children in long-term foster care in
your community, find your local CASA program at BecomeACASA.org.
Volunteers must be 21 years of age or older and willing to commit
to at least one year of advocacy.
About Texas CASA
Austin-based Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is
the statewide organization of 71 local CASA programs that recruit
and train volunteers to advocate for children in the child
protection system. Last year, 9,131 well-trained volunteers served
27,953 children in 213 of the 254 Texas counties. Texas CASA
supports the local CASA programs by advocating for effective public
policy for children in the child protection system and by providing
funding, training and technical assistance to program staff, board
and volunteers.
CASA volunteers are everyday members of the community doing
extraordinary work by choosing to speak up for abused and neglected
children in their communities. They are screened and trained, then
appointed by the court to advocate for the best interests of a
child or sibling group in the foster care system. Often the CASA
volunteer is the one constant person in a child’s life while he or
she goes through the overburdened system. CASA volunteers work to
move the children through foster care and into safe, permanent
homes as quickly as possible.
www.TexasCASA.org | Twitter.com/TexasCASA |
Facebook.com/TexasCASAInc
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170522006119/en/
GDC Marketing & IdeationEmily Price, 210-236-5000Sr.
Public Relations Account Executiveeprice@gdc-co.comorTexas CASA
(Court Appointed Special Advocates)Leslie Morton,
512-610-6101Training & Communications
Directorlmorton@texascasa.org