Local Nonprofit Asks Citizens to Stand Up for Vulnerable Children

THE ISSUE

The rights of our most vulnerable children are being lost in the shuffle of a strained system.

BACKGROUND

In our society the basic needs and rights of children are entrusted to their families, but when the family—for whatever reason—is unable to meet those obligations, our most vulnerable children are placed in the foster care and child welfare system.

That system is full of compassionate lawyers, judges, social workers and foster families, but according to recent statistics each year more than 748,000 children are placed in foster care nationally—nearly 600 in Prince George’s County alone. This intense need can strain the system to the point where they are simply unable to protect the rights of each child.

So the little girl who has already suffered in an abusive home, enters the foster care system which places here in three or four different homes in just a few months. Or the two siblings who lost their mother to incarceration are split up and living on different sides of these same county.

This isn’t just a problem it is nothing short of a violation of their basic human rights, in a country where we aren’t supposed to have to fear such things.

SOLUTION

In 1977 a family court judge created an innovative new program called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children. CASA is a national nonprofit organization which trains and supports volunteers to speak out and act as advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children. They are trained to work within the child welfare and family court systems and are appointed by judges to individual cases. With the help of a CASA volunteer, a child is half as likely to languish in the foster care system, and that much more likely to find a safe and permanent home.

In fact, the CASA program has been so effective that it now has more than 70,000 volunteers serving almost 1,000 programs in almost every court system in the United States. It is an outstanding reflection of the kind of change that’s possible when the public, private and nonprofit sectors join forces.

CALL-TO-ACTION

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County can only reach 25% of the children in need each year. That means almost nearly 400 children have no-one advocating for their rights. The CASA program is committed to making sure that every child in need has access to a CASA volunteer. CASA/Prince George’s County is holding an informational event Thursday November 20 from 6 to 7pm in the Hyattsville Administrative Building at 4310 Gallatin Street to recruit more volunteers and offer community members an opportunity to help in the fight child abuse. CASA will hold the next training for volunteers from January 22- February 19th.

CONTACT

Please contact CASA/Prince George’s County at 301-209-0491 or visit their Web site at www.pgcasa.org.