CASA

I've been feeling a little lost lately. Too much time on my hands and feeling the need to do something important. Raising my children has been my most important job. I've held that position for almost 23 years, and have about 5 years to go until "retirement". I say that in jest, because those of us who are parents know that the job never ends. But the every day responsibilities do decline. I'm not needed much around here anymore.

After months of consideration I decided to take the plunge and train to be a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Clackamas County. The training will take me about three months (about 40 hours of training) to finish. I will be sworn in by a judge and then anxiously receive my first case. Unfortunately there are many children waiting for a CASA.

I'm almost half way through my training to be a CASA volunteer. Through this training I have learned quite a bit about the court system, DHS, and how these systems works. But I feel like I have so much more to learn. Part of our training is to attend at least four hours of court proceedings. I have not done this yet and feel like when I do I will gain a better perspective of the role that a CASA plays not only in court, but in the role of advocate for the child.

This training is intense and forces you to look at what you know, where you came from and to identify your biases. Everyone has biases. In this job you can not ignore that and have to confront what your biases are.

One of the things I have learned about is MSL. This is an acronym for Minimum Sufficient Level. This is the lowest possible standard that a child can live within and still be safe and cared for. This standard is NO WHERE NEAR how you or I live. It is sad.

But the thing that I really understand now? Children want to live with their parents. They will choose living with their parents in a car over living in a nice house with strangers, even if that nice house is warm and filled with good food and lots of toys. The goal is to remove the danger from the child. If the state can not accomplish this, then they must remove the child from the danger. This is traumatic to the child and begins a cycle of grief. The average length of time the child stays in the system before being returned home or finding a permanent living situation is 18 months! That is a long time for a child. Yet in the court system this is considered speedy.

The other thing I understand better? Most parents who have had their children removed LOVE their children as much as I love my children, and they want their children back home. They just have to overcome some insurmountable obstacles to accomplish that. The good news? This is what the state and the courts desire; to reunite families.

Challenging? I'd say so. Some days I think I'm crazy for pursuing this non paying job. But no doubt I'm learning and growing and hope to make a difference.