CASA of Baltimore
August 28, 2007
By Tyisha Manigo
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CHARITY’S MISSION
CASA of Baltimore, Inc. (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to finding safe and permanent homes for abused and neglected children in Baltimore City. CASA volunteers act as advocates for the children they serve, helping to ensure that the children’s best interests are met by the juvenile court system.
BACKGROUND
CASA of Baltimore began in 1988 as a program of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Law and later became a program of the Advocates for Children and Youth, Inc. In 1995, the program became an independent nonprofit agency as part of the national CASA organization. Today there are more than 900 CASA programs nationwide, with 14 in Maryland.
HOW DOES CASA WORK?
Approximately 8,000 children are in foster care in Baltimore City, which accounts for 70 percent of all foster care cases in the state, according to Susan Burger, CASA of Baltimore’s executive director. Difficult foster care cases typically are referred to CASA by the juvenile court.
“We typically get kids referred to us who are either part of a big family of children, all of whom may be in different places and have different needs, or kids who are just generally high-risk or very needy — kids with emotional problems, kids with medical issues or children who have had multiple placements because they are not working out wherever they go for whatever reason,” Burger says.
CASA assigns a volunteer to meet with the child, family members, caseworkers and others to determine if the child’s educational and living needs are being met, and to ensure that a plan is in place to get the child out of foster care.
“The hope is that the volunteer, having the time to devote to that one child, will be able to help the courts understand better what’s happening with the child and why things may or may not be working out,” Burger says.
While volunteers are encouraged to bond with the children, they have to remain objective and try not to act as mentors or social workers.
“We have to be careful that we don’t function as these people’s therapy, and we have to make sure that our volunteers can be objective [because] the court is already getting slanted views of things based on who’s representing whom,” Burger says. “We have to put limits on what the volunteers can and cannot do.”
Volunteers are asked to commit for one year or for the life of the case, although volunteers stay for an average of two and a half years. Burger says it is a constant struggle to find enough people willing and able to help the 200 children that CASA serves annually.
Volunteers “really have to have perseverance because it’s not easy,” Burger says. “The system is so overwhelmed and sometimes somewhat dysfunctional … and there are a lot of roadblocks and a lot of frustration. I think you just have to be able to inherently tolerate that kind of stuff and know that you’re doing the best you can.”
Baltimore resident Maggie Marra knows this firsthand. For the past two years she has worked as a CASA volunteer with a 13-year-old girl she describes as energetic, bright and “a great kid.” (Confidentiality rules prevent CASA from disclosing a child’s identity.)
“It’s frustrating to see how the system fails these kids, and it is very disappointing to see what passes as adequate foster care,” says Marra, a former nurse practitioner who joined CASA in 2003.
Through CASA, she says, she gets to help someone “in the fullest way possible.”
“We have a good relationship,” Marra says of her CASA child. “She’s honest with me. … She knows that regardless of the trouble she’s gotten into, I’m going to be there.”
Beah Zander, a six-year volunteer, says she joined CASA because she wanted to make a difference in someone’s life. She says she hasn’t been disappointed and encourages others to do the same.
“I did expect to get some personal satisfaction out of [volunteering for CASA], but I tried hard not to be unrealistic,” Zander says. “I think if you go in with very realistic expectations, your experience will be more rewarding.”
RECENT MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS/GRANTS/AWARDS
In May, CASA volunteers received the Governor’s Victim Assistance Award, sponsored by the Maryland State Board of Victim Services and the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
FUND-RAISING EFFORTS
As of May, the organization had raised just over $60,000 for the fiscal year ending in June 2007, approximately $10,000 more than the previous year.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Lessner (president), Leslie Brown (vice president), Theresa Barrett (secretary), Scott Soffen (treasurer), Joal Barbehenn, Diane Baum, Steve Boykin, Paul Fallace, Neil E. Kotras, Marjorie “Maggie” Marra, Mary Medland, Padraic McSherry Morton, Rev. Tiji T. Murphy, Marc B. Noren, Mark Parr, Scott Thomas.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
CASA of Baltimore welcomes volunteers. Interested applicants 21 or older can visit www.casabalt.org
or call 410-244-1465.
