Norma's Volunteer Story, Part 6

This is a series about Norma, a woman who becomes a CASA volunteer. It is fictional, but based on real events. Each Wednesday we will update the blog with the next segment. At CASA we always need volunteers, but right now we are extremely low on volunteers and there are hundreds of children in the South Plains who are waiting for a special person like Norma......like you. Please call 806-763-2272 if you would like to be that person.

 

Norma:

Day two training: Advocacy

On day two of training, Norma was the first to arrive. She couldn’t wait to learn more and Peggy didn’t let her down. Day two is what Peggy called “the meat and potatoes day”, when much of the in-depth training information is taught.

Advocacy was the topic for the day and they covered a wide variety of sub chapters that broke down and defined advocacy in new ways. The simplest definition of advocate is: the representation of a cause or person who cannot necessarily represent themselves; whether it is a cause that needs a chair or a child that needs a voice. CASA volunteers are the voice in the clamor of legalese and paper work; those who represent the child’s best interests, hopes and greatest desires.

These children do not understand the things going on around them. They have suffered some type of abuse or neglect and have subsequently been ripped from their homes. Even if the home situation is less than ideal, it is usually the only home the children have known or are even willing to recognize. Then, they are placed with strangers and sometimes changing CPS caseworkers, guardian ad litems, and even foster home placements. The one constant in this child’s life is usually the CASA volunteer. It is the volunteer’s priority to advocate for the needs of this overlooked child. A child with a CASA volunteer spends five months, on average, less time in a foster home than one without.

Peggy stressed the importance of confidentiality of the children CASA represents. She said you can’t even tell your best friend the details of the case. Peggy did mention some people like to team up with a friend or significant other to represent a child. Actually, there was a husband and wife who were in the training together right now.  She explained this would allow them to talk about the case together and tackle the responsibilities together as well. Norma scribbled a note in her training manual to visit with her friend Jennifer. Jennifer and her husband Michael liked to do things together.

Documentation was the next topic covered. Because CASA advocates are legally appointed by the judge and because of the legal issues of each case, it is incredibly important to document every single thing. Peggy said the judges in the Lubbock area have a good working relationship with CASA and they take the advocates recommendations into serious consideration. Those recommendations have to be backed up by proper documentation. Phone calls, emails, visits with teachers, caseworkers, and relatives, face-to-face visits with the child - everything must be documented for that child’s case file. Peggy said organization was key and Norma was an organized person.

Peggy talked about the types of cases next. They are TMC, or temporary managing conservatorship, and PMC, or permanent managing conservatorship. Peggy said ideally she would like all cases to be TMC. That would mean there is a 12-18 month timeline for resolution for the case and the child would be permanently placed into the home of a relative, would go back home to their mother or father if deemed in the best interest of the child, or get legally adopted.

Sadly, about 70 percent of the children in the South Plains who are currently in the foster care system are PMC. That means they will age out of the system when they turn 18 without being adopted. Peggy told the story of a child, who we will call Sally for this blog, who she fought for as an advocate. Peggy was Sally’s volunteer advocate for more than ten years. Sally was taken from her home at a young age and got moved around to multiple foster homes throughout her childhood, as did her brothers and sisters. When Sally turned 18 she was on her own, legally. Luckily for Sally, the last foster home she was placed in was a good fit and she formed a strong, loving bond with the family. And while only two percent of foster children take advantage of free college tuition offered in Texas, Sally is part of the two percent. She is now a student at Texas Tech University and Peggy is still in contact with her to this day.

The final thing Peggy talked about during day two of training was volunteer support. The reason the volunteer supervisors are at CASA is to provide training and support to the many people who are volunteer advocates. It is important for volunteers to communicate with their supervisor, and visit with them about what is going on with their case, how they feel and what they think about it. Because of lack of volunteers, supervisors take on cases as well and they can understand the situation the advocate is going through.

Officer Gooden/CPS Bob Johnson:

Officer Gooden had just gotten Ben and Robert settled down in front of the television, eating their pizza when a knock sounded on the front door. He went to answer the door and found a short, middle-aged man with very little hair and wire rim glasses standing there. He was holding a three-inch-thick file folder in one hand and the other was extended towards Officer Gooden.

“Officer Gooden?” he asked, “I am CPS caseworker Bob Johnson. We spoke on the phone earlier about the Harris-Price family.”

Officer Jim Gooden nodded and stepped aside to allow Mr. Johnson into the home. 

“I responded to a noise complaint called in by a neighbor across the hall. When I came on scene, Ben here,” he nodded, indicating the older boy who was trying to eat pizza, pay attention to what the two men in the kitchen were saying and stay awake, all the while, wheezing as each breath left his body. “Ben answered the door and said their mom, Kathy Price, left two nights ago to get formula for the baby and never came back. There is no food in the house, so I ordered a pizza and as you can see, it was a big hit,” he said with a smile. The smile faded as he turned his attention to the nine-month-old on his hip.

“When I arrived on scene, she was crying and in desperate need of a diaper change. I am not sure how long she sat in the diaper I found her in, but I called the paramedics out to come and assess her physical situation. They should be here any minute now.”

Bob Johnson was taking notes and listening as Officer Gooden told him almost the exact same story that been documented as having happened only a few months before. A few of the details had changed, but it was ultimately the same situation. He shook his head as he realized the children would have to be taken from the home this time.

He handed a  bag of diapers, clean onesies, sterilized bottles and formula to Officer Gooden so he could take care of baby Rose while he made some calls to figure out what to do with the three children.

Norma's Volunteer Story, Part 5

This is a series about Norma, a woman who becomes a CASA volunteer. It is fictional, but based on real events. Each Wednesday we will update the blog with the next segment. At CASA we always need volunteers, but right now we are extremely low on volunteers and there are hundreds of children in the South Plains who are waiting for a special person like Norma......like you. Please call 806-763-2272 if you would like to be that person.

Norma:

Training Day One: Role and History

Norma was still a little nervous when it came training time. Even though she knew it was still part of the pre-screening process, it had been decades since she had last been in a classroom setting. Once she arrived, she found a chair and got settled in as the class began. They were each given a black binder and introductions went around the room. The instructor’s name was Peggy and she was great! There were ten chapters and only four days to cover them all, so they dug in after a few more introductions and ice breakers, including the powerful experiment the called “Permanency Project”.

One of the first things covered was the quintessential role a CASA volunteer plays in the life of a child who resides in foster care. They have the benefit of being focused on a child’s needs without owing an allegiance to anyone other than that child. They give of their time freely, and in this way, are able to remain completely objective. Finding a safe and permanent home for a child as quickly as circumstances allow and using all available resources to better that child’s life, is the ultimate bottom line.

The four main duties of a volunteer are investigation, facilitation, advocacy and monitoring.  The trainer then talked about the important administrative activities a volunteer must do to document their case, including timesheets and a case timeline. In the legal system, there are many acronyms used so they covered what those meant as well.

The trainer dispelled the myths about being a CASA – no, you don’t keep the children at your house; no, you don’t need to have a law degree, legal training or be retired; no, CASA does not stand for housing of children. Peggy spent a lot of time discussing what ‘best interest’ means as it applies to CASA and the children they serve; and also what defines abuse and neglect. Norma enjoyed the videos they watched of foster children’s testimonies of what their journey in foster care was like.

Peggy also shared the history of CASA and how it came about. Norma was surprised at how ignorant she was to the very real cry of the children of this nation. It only took one year from the time little Mary Ellen’s case of horrific abuse was reported in 1873 until an organization was created to help abused children, believed to be the first child protective agency in the world. It was over one hundred years later however, before laws regarding child abuse became more clearly defined. In 1974 CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, created the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and directed funding to programs that supported abused children.

In January 1977, Seattle Judge David Soukup obtained funding to recruit and train community volunteers to step into courtrooms on behalf of the children. From there, the National CASA was established in 1982 and CASA of the South Plains was established when a Lubbock county judge first appointed a CASA to serve as an abused child's advocate in October 1993.  Since that time, over 5,000 children have been provided over 1,000 advocates in our area.  

Officer Gooden:

Officer Gooden surveyed the apartment and reached the only conclusion available; the children had been left to their own devices for at least a day or two. The television was on too loud and Robert, the middle child, was wearing a pair of pajamas that appeared as if they would stand up on their own if the child were not inside them. The kids were dirty and the baby had not stopped screaming since he had entered the apartment. He looked around for diapers or formula, but found none.

Unfortunately, there was only one thing that he could do and that was to call Children’s Protective Services out to the scene to take care of the children. Rose, the baby, appeared to have been wearing the same diaper for at least 24 hours and was in desperate need of being cleaned and fed. Robert had asked him twice in the last fifteen minutes if he had anything for him to eat, and Ben looked as if he would simply fall asleep standing up if Rose weren’t crying or Robert complaining that his stomach was yelling at him because it was so hungry. Officer Jim Gooden stepped into the kitchen and pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number for the Children’s Protective Services.

CPS caseworker Bob Johnson answered the phone when Officer Gooden called.

“This is Officer Gooden and I responded to a noise disturbance and found two children and an infant left home alone for what appears to have been at least 24 hours,” he reported to Bob Johnson.

“What are the names of the children, Gooden?  I will check the system to see if we have an established case file on them,” Bob said. 

Officer Gooden recited the children’s names, as Ben had given them to him earlier, as well as Kathy Price’s name, from a stack of unpaid bills and collection notices on the kitchen table.  Across town, Bob pecked at the keys of the computer in a rapid series of tap, tap, taps and then sighed.

“We do have a case file on this family, unfortunately. The mother signed an affidavit not that long ago stating she wouldn’t leave the children unattended. This has, apparently, been an issue in the past. I will gather up any other information I have on the family and head that way. I should be there in half an hour or so,” he said as he collected everything CPS had on the Harris-Price family.

Gooden asked the case worker to bring some diapers and formula with him for baby Rose. He then thanked him and then dialed the nearest pizza delivery place as there was not a stitch of food in the apartment. Once that was done, he settled in to wait.

Norma's Volunteer Story, Part 4

This is a series about Norma, a woman who becomes a CASA volunteer. It is fictional, but based on real events. Each Wednesday we will update the blog with the next segment. At CASA we always need volunteers, but right now we are extremely low on volunteers and there are hundreds of children in the South Plains who are waiting for a special person like Norma......like you. Please call 806-763-2272 if you would like to be that person.

Norma:

“That is what the pre-service training is for Norma,” Peggy said when she voiced her concerns during the interview the following week. “We encourage you to talk with your friends and family. Speak with anyone who has done volunteer work with us and attend the training. It gives you more information to make an informed decision as to whether or not this is for you,” Peggy said.

“That makes me feel better. I would like to know more about what I would be getting myself into and whether or not I am even compatible,” Norma said. She filled out the paperwork, including the background check. They talked a little more and before she left, Norma signed up for the next pre-service training class. This was the second step of the process, before Norma Jackson’s world changed. She didn’t know it yet, but the next few months would change the way she not only looked at the world, but how she interacted with people and more simply, the way she loved.

 

Officer Jim Gooden:

“Car 22, come in! Over!” the radio squawked in the stillness of the evening. Officer Jim Gooden had been on night shift every evening this month.  So far, everything had been fairly quiet tonight. It looked as if it might not stay that way. He sighed as he reached for the handheld radio and responded to the call from dispatch.

“Dispatch, this is Car 22. Go ahead, over,” he said.

“Car 22, please respond to 2250 Willow Grove Avenue, apartment 24B for a noise complaint, over,” the dispatcher responded with the instruction that would change Officer Gooden’s entire night.

“Copy that dispatch. ETA is approximately ten minutes. Over and out.” Officer Gooden replaced the handheld and pulled out into traffic. When he arrived, he reported to the address given to him by dispatch. It was a neighbor who had called in the noise complaint. He took the statement of the neighbor and headed across the hall to knock on the door the neighbor had pointed out to him. He knocked once and identified himself as a police officer. There was no answer so he knocked again, this time harder. A thin, young boy opened the door just a crack. He appeared to have been crying and Officer Gooden could hear at least one more child, as well as an infant, crying from somewhere back in the apartment.

“Son,” Officer Gooden asked, “what is your name?”

The young boy sniffled and ran a hand under his nose. “Ben Harris, sir,” he replied quietly.

“Are your parents home, Ben?” asked the officer.

Ben bowed his head so the police officer would not see the hot, salty tears forcing themselves through his tightly squeezed eyelids.

“No, Sir.”

“May I come inside and wait with you until someone comes home?”

Ben nodded his head in mute acceptance and shuffled back a few steps as the officer came inside. This was not the first time his mother had left them alone. This time was different though. She had left on Tuesday night to go get formula for baby Rose, and it was now Thursday night. This time she hadn’t come back. He couldn’t keep Robert and Rose from crying and now the police were here, and they were going to take them away.  Mom sure was going to be upset with him whenever she did come home.