By: Kafi Rosenbaum
Passaic County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) need volunteers who are able to be that person for the most vulnerable population: children in foster care.
According to officials, across Passaic County, there are over 300 children, from newborns to teenagers, who are in foster care each year and need a volunteer advocate called a CASA to be their voice, their advocate and their person each year.
They say that Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASAs, work one-on-one with an abused or neglected child, advocating for their needs and gathering information from the family, caretakers, teachers, doctors, and caseworkers to make informed recommendations to the family court about the child’s future.
Officials of CASA implore that volunteers do not need specific background, training, or education to become a CASA; all training and resources are provided through 36 hours of pre-service training and ongoing continuing education.
“The training provided is informative and enjoyable,” Court Appointed Special Advocate Candace Eardley of Totowa said, “The feeling of having helped a child, even in some small way, is indescribable,” she added.
The first step to becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate is to attend a volunteer information session.
Officials say that information sessions are a non-committal opportunity for community members to learn more about the volunteer program and ask questions about the volunteer experience.
Upcoming volunteer information sessions are as follows:
JULY
• Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 5:30 pm
• Friday, July 28, 2023, at 10:00 am
AUGUST
• Thursday, August 10, 2023, at 5:30 pm
• Friday, August 11, 2023, at 10:00 am
• Thursday, August 24, 2023, at 5:30 pm
• Friday, August 25, 2023, at 10:00 am
All Information Sessions occur at the Passaic County CASA office, 415 Hamburg Turnpike, Suite D2, Wayne, New Jersey 07470.
For more information about the volunteer program, visit www.passaiccountycasa.org or e-mail Julie Ritsema at julie@passaiccountycasa.org
To sign up for an informational session, visit www.passaiccountycasa.org/getting-started or call (973) 832-4002.
ABOUT PASSAIC COUNTY CASA FOR CHILDREN
Passaic County CASA is a nonprofit organization that recruits, screens, trains, and supervises volunteers to “Speak Up for a Child” removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.
CASA is the only program in New Jersey that uses trained volunteers to work one-on-one with children, ensuring that each child receives needed services and achieves permanency in a safe, nurturing home. Last year, over 300 youths went through the Passaic County foster care system.
For additional information, please visit www.passaiccountycasa.org