Volunteer to Change a Child’s Life

By Edita McQuary

Would you like to be a positive influence on a child in foster care in Santa Cruz County? All it takes to make such a difference is 35 hours of training. If you have 2-3 hours a week of free time, you can make a significant difference in the life of a child in our community.

Watsonville resident Marti Lundin, a volunteer CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for nearly three years, said, “If you have the slightest motivation to volunteer with an organization that offers life-changing advocacy to youth, along with personal growth and enrichment, then you must learn about CASA.”

According to Felicita (Cita) Rasul, Outreach and Recruitment Manager at CASA, there are approximately 400 children in foster care in Santa Cruz County at any given time. Of these children, CASA volunteers are currently helping 285 and there is a waiting list of 20 children who also need a volunteer Advocate.

Community service has been Cita’s mantra since shortly after her graduation from Renaissance High School in Watsonville with her four-month old son in her arms. Cita grew up in Aptos in a family that believed in helping people when they saw a need and her professional life has reflected those values. Prior to her current four-year tenure at CASA, Cita worked at the Walnut Avenue Family and Women’s Center in Santa Cruz. She is also proud to have served as an Advocate for a year and a half.

CASA’s current training class of prospective Advocates is the first time in seven years they have offered daytime training. (Typically the trainings are held two evenings a week, for five weeks). Eighteen people are currently attending training. They will be sworn in by the dependency court judge on November 14, and will then be matched with a child or youth who has been referred to CASA for an Advocate.

CASA serves children from birth to age 21 years (and sometimes beyond) who are involved in Juvenile Dependency Court because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned. Volunteers devote 2-4 hours a week getting to know one child and gathering information from everyone involved in the child’s life; teachers, social workers, caregivers, family members, etc.

Many Advocates of younger children and “tweens” bring them to the CASA house in Watsonville. Older children may prefer a walk on the beach, a chat in a local coffee shop, or shopping for school clothes. CASA has a Children’s Fund, supported by the volunteer Friends of CASA, which helps pay for items an Advocate may need to buy for their child or youth.

CASA volunteers are part of a team that works in the best interest of the child and stay with the case until the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. Volunteer Advocates are often the one consistent adult presence in their child’s life. As the voice for their child, they are influencing life-changing decisions on behalf of the child. At the same time, many Advocates say that their lives, too, have been touched in many ways they never anticipated. CASA Advocate Marti agrees. “I guarantee that being a volunteer Advocate is one of life’s most enriching experiences!”

•••

CASA is located at 813 Freedom Boulevard, Watsonville, California. To see how you might help the children in foster care in Santa Cruz County, please go to https: casaofsantacruz.org or call 831.761.2956.