BRYAN, Texas — Voices For Children in downtown Bryan is seeking volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children in foster care in Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, and Madison counties.
“There are so many kids going into foster care, and we at least here in the communities that we serve do not have a enough volunteers to take on all of those cases," Community and Donor Relations Coordinator Norma Noonan said. "There have been periods of times where we’ve had to stop taking cases, and we don’t want to do that. We want to make sure that every child that needs a CASA has a CASA.”
Volunteers at voices for children are trained and appointed by judges to advocate for a child or sibling group while they are in the foster care system. They will advocate for the child in court, school, and other settings; and build a support network around the family.
“Our CASAs, they really walk hand in hand side by side with a child, connecting the dots making sure that their voices are heard, making sure that their voices are amplified," said Recruitment and Training Coordinator CJ Spencer. "They are the consistent piece that a lot of times it's not there because they're usually there from the beginning to the end.”
You don’t have to be a superhero or have a law degree to become a volunteer. If you are 21 or older, can pass a background check, and have a love for helping others, you can be a court-appointed service advocate.
“There's someone who has a kind heart, a passion, a willingness to get in there and work directly with the families,' Spencer said. "They have strong rapport relationships with CPS, with the attorneys with the judges, and they really are like the glue that kind of keeps everybody together.”
The children in the foster care system didn’t choose to be in their situation but you have a choice to help them be placed in a safe and permanent home.
“Every child that we work with deserves a chance to have some normalcy in their life," Noonan said. "I think that the volunteers that we work with really get to see the impact that they can make on a child's life.”