CASA Volunteers to Recharge at Statewide Conference

More than 200 Maryland CASA volunteers are coming to Annapolis on Saturday for the organization's sixth annual statewide conference.

serve as representatives to the court for children with difficult home situations who are embroiled in the foster care system. Some of the CASAs responsibilities include meeting with their assigned child on a regular basis and interviewing people in the child's life. They also stay with the same child for as long as the child is in the program.

"The conference is primarily for training," said Ed Kilcullen, state director for Maryland CASA. "Its a great opportunity for new and veteran volunteers to hone their skills."

But, Kilcullen adds, it's also a chance for volunteers to share their experiences and recharge.

"It can be very isolating work," Kilcullen said. "These are very passionate people."

Jack Walsh, an resident and retired lawyer, has been a volunteer for about seven years. Walsh had gotten so close to one of his assigned children that the child calls him grandpa.

"Most of these kids go through a number of social workers," Walsh said. "If they have a parent, they don't usually give a damn. It's rewarding work."

Carole Wilder of Owings Mills, who has been a volunteer for eight years, agrees that being a CASA is rewarding but admits the process isn't easy. Wilder joined the program after retiring from her job as a teacher.

"It can be emotionally draining but it's so worth it," Wilder said. "These kids need somebody stable in their lives."

Wilder added that it's usually a challenge to gain the children's trust, but, in her experience, all her clients have been appreciative in their own way.

"CASAs aren't quite mentors, but the kids know that there's somebody they can call," she said. "They have a lot of issues that quote, unquote normal kids don't have."

The conference will be hosted by the Maryland CASA Association and feature guest speaker Tonier "Neen" Cain, whose recovery from childhood abuse was profiled in the documentary Healing Neen.