Foster care advocacy group plans fundraiser

Merced County Court Appointed Special Advocates is planning to roll the dice to increase its profile on the West Side.

On Sept. 11 at 6 p.m., CASA will turn the O’Banion Building at the Los Banos Fairgrounds, 403 F St., into a gambling establishment for its “Let the Good Times Roll” Casino Night. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling 209-722-2272. The goal is to pay for advocate’s training and let the public know about the work CASA does for children.

“Our focus is to provide training,” said Shar Herrera, CASA’s executive director. “The training is about $5,000. We have about four trainings a year.”

CASA assists abused and neglected children by providing them with advocates who attend court with them and act as mentors and role models.

The fundraiser will feature music and casino games. Several local restaurants are sharing catering duties.

Herrera said there are 600 to 700 children in foster care in Merced County and only 90 have advocates. Each advocate is responsible for one child, with some exceptions for siblings, leaving about 600 children still in need. On the West Side, there are more than 70 foster children and about 10 advocates.

Jeanette King, who is an advocate for three siblings on the West Side, said she wished CASA existed when she was a child. King grew up in a foster care-type environment. She said that is what drew her to the program.

“It’s pretty awesome most of the time,” she said. “My job is to get to know the kids so I can give the court a sense of who they are and their needs.”

King said aside from attending court proceedings with the children, as an advocate she takes time to participate in recreational activities as well.

“I get to see lots of great movies and go find museums,” she said.

Training advocates, which includes a combined 40 hours in the classroom and in court, mainly involves lessons on confidentiality and how to interact with the children, according to King. Being an advocate requires a commitment of at least 18 months.

King said she encourages people to attend one of CASA’s informational meetings if they have the time and the desire to help children. She said she believes there are not more advocates on the West Side because many people do not know CASA exists.

Herrera said her organization does fundraisers in Merced and Los Banos to make CASA more visible throughout the county. She said she hopes to have 300 people attend the Sept. 11 fundraiser, double the amount who participated last year.

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Foster care advocacy group plans fundraiser."