Spevak: Becoming a CASA volunteer could be a life-changing experience

Who are the most forgotten and neglected persons in our county and country?

I contend they are foster children, kids as young as newborns and as old as 21.

Most foster children in our country have had a bad hand dealt to them. They are children who, for the most part, have been either abandoned or abused. Many of them have moved from foster home to foster home. Some live-in group homes, because no family wants them.

Who are some of the biggest heroes in America and Merced County? I contend they are CASA volunteers, Court Appointed Special Advocates who generously give their time and talents to advocate for foster children.

In the United States there are 400,000 children in foster care. In Merced County alone, there are approximately 800 foster children, up from the 500 in foster care in 2017.

In 1976 the first CASA organization was formed — in the state of Washington. Merced County’s CASA began in 2010.

The purpose of CASA is a simple one, according to Cathie Lancaster, director of Merced County CASA. “CASA volunteers,” Cathie said, “advocate for children whose lives have been turned upside down and who feel uprooted and alone.

“The volunteers advocate in court for these foster children,” Cathie explained. “They are the eyes and ears for the judge, and they make sure the child’s needs are being met. The advocate is the one consistent person in the child’s life.”

CASA volunteers are sworn officers of the court and are asked to provide an independent assessment of a foster child’s situation. They are legally allowed to talk freely not only with the foster child but with teachers, doctors, mental health providers, foster parents, parents, family members, social workers, attorneys, therapists, coaches and anyone else in the life of the foster child.

In Merced County there are 103 CASA volunteers, a number much lower than the approximately 800 children in foster care who need advocates. Merced County volunteers include nine from Los Banos. “Every volunteer is deeply appreciated,” Lancaster said.

I connected with two CASA volunteers from Los Banos, Cindy Arambel and Helena Marciochi, to get their perspectives.

Cindy said she decided to become a CASA volunteer when she talked with a good friend who was a CASA volunteer in another county, who sold her on giving it a try.

Cindy has encountered many challenges during her time as an advocate. “Some (not all) foster parents are in it only for the money,” Cindy said. “Some birth parents don’t care about their kids. Many social workers are overtaxed by their workload.

“But the hardest challenges,” Cindy added, “have been getting services for the kiddos — like speech therapy, counseling, behavioral therapy, tutoring and mental health therapy.

“Even after the court ordered these services, there was always a lot of red tape to get things started and follow through.”

At the same time, Cindy has felt a lot of intangible rewards in being a CASA volunteer. “One example of a big satisfaction came when I was working with two kiddos who needed so much attention,” Cindy said.

“Finally, after more than three years, five school changes, three foster families, many, many social workers and countless court appearances,” Cindy said, “a wonderful family stepped up and added these two children to their family of five.“

“For the first time since I met these kiddos,’” Cindy explained, “they are clean and well fed and most importantly loved and very happy. This family is a reminder that good and kind and giving people do exist right here in our town.”

Helena, another Los Banos resident, told me she saw a great need for foster children to have a voice. “As a CASA,” Helena said, “you are the voice for these children.”

Helena also has received many priceless rewards from being a CASA volunteer. “The greatest satisfaction I have received was from my oldest CASA child,” she said. “When we first met, she was a very cold, frustrated, angry and argumentative person. She would get into fights at school and get expelled; she was failing all her classes.”

Like Cindy, Helena encountered obstacles. “One of the challenges I’ve faced was when my CASA children moved,” Helena said. “One moved to Modesto, and the other to Atwater. I was still able to visit them at least once a month in person. Fortunately, with the great technology of today, we FaceTimed, called and texted each other frequently.”

“Once she got to know me,” Helena added, “the trust began, and she immediately opened up. We worked together, and I was her sounding board. She told me she had no one before that she could ever trust or even talk to.

“As we worked together,” Helena said, “I saw her grades escalate, and she graduated with her peers who were once her enemies. This was so heartwarming. Not only did she trust me to be her advocate, she also trusted me to be her friend.”

Helena’s CASA foster child is now 22, and she and Helena are still in communication with each other.

“She still asks me for advice,” Helena said, “and she tells me that when she gets angry, she thinks about our talks and about how heavy the consequences could be if she acts out that anger.”

Both Cindy and Helena encourage others in Los Banos and throughout Merced County to become a CASA volunteer. “Becoming a CASA volunteer,” Cindy said, “will make a huge difference, not only in the life of a child, but also in your life.”

“You will never regret being an advocate,” Helena said, “It is the most rewarding and satisfying experience one could ever have. It makes you appreciate what you have and your life in general.”

As Cindy and Helena said, it could be the most rewarding experience you will ever have.

For those who aren’t able to become a CASA advocate, you can support what CASA does by participating in its “Non-Event” fundraiser next month to benefit CASA children in the Merced County foster care system.

Los Banos sisters Diane Neves and Carole Etcheverry are organizing the fundraiser, which they believe “can make the world a brighter place for the children CASA advocates for.”

For more information about becoming a CASA volunteer, check out the Merced County CASA website at mercedcasa.org. Better yet, give Cathie Lancaster a call at the CASA office (209.722 CASA).

Look for more information about the Non-Event fundraiser in October at the CASA website (mercedcasa.org) or by calling the CASA office at 209-722-2270.

John Spevak wrote this for the Los Banos Enterprise. His email is john.spevak@gmail.com.