Gainesville — For the first time in its history, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of North Texas, Inc. is close to turning away children who need advocates.

 “We have 18 children today who need a CASA volunteer and we don’t have anyone ready to assign to them,”  CASA’s Director, Vicki Robertson said.  “This is not normal for us. We’ve always been able to provide advocacy for 100 percent of the close to 100 children a year who need a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA volunteer).  This year, we’ve had several long-term volunteers who had to step aside for health reasons added to several new cases coming in, which has led to an urgent need for CASA volunteers. If we don’t have people who can step up to be their advocates, we’re going to have to turn them away and they’re not going to have a CASA volunteer looking out for them.”

The local non-profit agency trains volunteers to advocate for neglected and abused children while they’re a part of the child welfare system.

Robertson said CASA staff members have never turned away children in the organization’s close to 13 years of operation.

The shortage of CASA volunteers comes at a time when Child Protective Services workers are facing heavy caseloads.

“The Child Protection workers really care for the children and work their hearts out to help families, but they are often more than overwhelmed by the workload and staff turnover,” Robertson said. “It’s even more overwhelming for the children who rarely have the same CPS caseworker or foster parents through the end of their case.  Most have multiple workers and multiple foster homes, multiple schools added to uncertainty about their future.  This makes the need for CASA volunteers even greater – because when the homes and the workers change, CASA can be the consistency for these little ones who need to know that someone is going to be there for them.”

CASA volunteers step into each child’s world and conduct their own independent investigation regarding the child’s case, speaking to anyone and everyone who may have information about what is happening in their lives.  They check up on the children in their foster homes and the parents’ efforts to make changes in their lives that might allow for the safe return of the children.  They report their findings back to the District Judge, who has the tremendous responsibility of making decisions for the child’s future.  CASA volunteers stay with the child’s case until the child is in a safe and permanent home.  They also serve as a kind of “watch dog” to make sure that the child and his or her needs does not slip through the cracks.

To become a CASA volunteer one must be over the age of 21, have no prior criminal record or any history of abuse or neglect on record with CPS, have 10 to 15 hours a month to dedicate to a case and participate in 33 hours of training which is provided by CASA.  Volunteers are asked to commit to any child they’re assigned for the duration of that case, which normally takes around to 18-24 months.

“CASA isn’t always an easy volunteer role, but it’s more rewarding than difficult.” says Robertson, “Having a CASA is so very important for the almost 100 kids a year who need someone to be there for them.  The difference a CASA volunteer makes for each child is tremendous. We have new volunteer training scheduled to begin soon – both evening and day time trainings are coming up.  I can’t say strongly enough that we need people to step up now so that we don’t have to leave children without a CASA volunteer looking out for them.”

CASA will host an informational meeting at 5:15 p.m., Tuesday, July 31 at the CASA office.  Those who attend will hear from CASA volunteers and staff and be able to have any questions that they may have answered. This meeting will be held at 309 S. Commerce St. in Gainesville.

If you have questions or are interested in getting involved with CASA or attending the informational meeting, call 665-2244, email sbutler@casant.org or visit www.becomeacasa.org.