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CASA of Placer County
Photo by Dante Fontana
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One of life’s impossible truths is that thousands of abused and neglected children in this country – hundreds from our community – have been extracted from their homes, removed from their families and are part of an overburdened dependency and delinquency system.
They live in limbo and bounce from foster home to foster home, while equally strained courts try to determine their best interests. Is reunification of the family possible, and if not, under whose custody will these children live until they “age out” of the system?
Wading these unpredictable waters is Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Formed nationally in 1977 to provide court-appointed volunteer advocacy to abused and/or neglected children of all ages (and, in doing so, help secure them permanent placement), CASA now operates a network of more than 1,050 community offices nationwide, including a local chapter in Placer County. Like its national counterparts, CASA of Placer County, established in 2004, recruits, trains and supports volunteers to provide quality advocacy and consistency for children in the system – and a voice for them in court.
For CASA of Placer County’s Program Director Kathryn Hart, rewards overshadow the obvious challenges. “Yesterday, in court, a youth told the judge, ‘The only person who I trust is my CASA,’” she relays. But, while noting the complexities that come with CASA advocacy, Hart honors its compensatory victories. “It is difficult to read sad stories of hurt children in our community,” she admits. “But a caring volunteer can love unconditionally and be the difference.”
