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.
