Children in foster care, in Marin County and elsewhere, can experience many disruptions and losses in their lives. They are removed from the care of their parents and moved into a foster placement, often in a new community with a new school and new peer group to navigate. Social workers and other professionals are there for support, but that may change as the child’s case progresses. All the while, the child is managing the complicated and challenging impacts of trauma.
Court Appointed Special Advocates are there to ensure that the nearly 100 children in Marin County’s foster care system have a consistent, supportive adult who is there for them no matter what. CASAs provide one-on-one advocacy to children in the system; they meet with their child regularly, learn about the child’s life and needs, and advocate to the child’s care team and the juvenile court to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.
This consistent and caring support can be life-changing for a child and their family. As one of our former CASA youth shared, “Having a CASA is really important to a foster kid because it gives us someone we can consistently talk to and trust, and we know we can rely on them to be there whenever we need them, whatever the reasons may be.” Our impact report shows that with the consistent advocacy of a CASA volunteer, children in foster care are more likely to have a safe and stable home, are connected to more services, and have better educational outcomes. And importantly, children with a CASA have reported significantly higher levels of hope.
Marin CASA ensures that children in foster care in Marin County have the opportunity for hope and the opportunity to thrive. Marin CASA recruits, trains and coaches committed volunteers from the Marin community and connects them to children and families in the child welfare system who need the most support.
We need your help to grow our volunteer community as well as donations to keep our operations going. Together, we can make Marin County a place where all children and families can thrive.
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