According to Dallas CASA volunteer Tim Ringa,
“My wish for the holiday season is that all children living in the protective care of the state could know the transformative power of having a Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer.
“Children come into protective care after experiencing abuse or neglect. They are placed in foster care while judges and Child Protective Services determine where they can safely and permanently live. Dallas CASA volunteers step into this in-between time for children and serve as consistent, caring adults while everything else may seem in chaos.
“I became a Dallas CASA volunteer in 2016 and since then have worked six cases involving nine children. Cases are not always easy, but it’s been a profoundly rewarding volunteer role especially when children are placed in permanent, loving homes.
“I’ve learned that advocacy can look like lots of different things. It’s meeting the children you’re serving once a month, but it’s also engaging with their families, teachers, attorneys, therapists and any other stakeholders on the case. It’s attending court hearings, but sometimes it’s also a lot of behind-the-scenes work doing things like obtaining social security cards or attending educational meetings on behalf of the child.
“I remember one case I worked on when the child was placed with a relative and the relative’s child in a small two-bedroom apartment. The children, ages 2 and 5, were going to share a very small bedroom. The relative wanted bunk beds for the children so they could have some floor space to play together. Working with community partners, we were able to get bunk beds for the relative. Ultimately, the child was placed permanently with the relative. Seeing the child happy and loved and knowing the relative had the support they needed made my advocacy worth it.
“On another case, the child asked me if I was a CPS caseworker or attorney. While I explained the role of CASA, it also broke my heart a little a child would have to know what CPS and attorneys are.
“These children have done nothing wrong. They come into a system straining to serve them all. The courts and judges rely on Dallas CASA to be a stopgap, and children deserve to know adults in their community care about them.
“I invite you to join me this holiday season and become a Dallas CASA volunteer. Training is 30 hours, with ten of those in person and 20 online through a web-based learning management platform. You’ll be assigned a Dallas CASA staff supervisor to support you, and you’ll be sworn in by the court and assigned to the case of a child. You will join almost 1,000 sworn and trained Dallas CASA volunteers who proudly advocate on behalf of children, giving them voices in court and says in their future.
“Our next training class begins in January, and you can sign up for an information session here.”
* Graphic/photo provided by Dallas CASA
