It’s easy to be a child’s advocate

It is understood that all children need love. They need to be in an environment where love exists, where they know they are cared for.

Unfortunately, there are too many who are in need of a safe haven. Some have lost their parents, many are victims of neglect or mental or physical abuse.

What makes this area great is that there is an agency that helps to right the wrongs. Children can rely on CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). It is the voice for children who are caught up in the complex welfare and juvenile court systems.

There are those who volunteer to become the voice for these children, people who care, who are not too busy to enhance the life of a child.

CASA was created in 1977 and became a national organization in 1982. Over the years, millions have served as volunteers, spending millions of hours serving hundreds of thousands of children.

Many have served in the volunteer capacity for many years. Locally, CASA is seeking sponsors. Sponsors not only work with the neglected, but they are recognized for the sharing of their time.

In Louisiana:

• A child is abused every 48 minutes.
• Every 10.5 hours a child is confirmed to have been sexually abused.
• At any given time, there are more than 5,000 children in foster care, and of those in foster care, 48 percent are under 5.
• A child dies before his or her first birthday every 14 hours.

Louisiana is ranked 49th in overall child well-being

Grim articles have appeared in newspapers across the country citing increased child abuse reports. Nobody can say for sure that the recession is causing this spike, but the collective gut feeling among child welfare experts is that it is.

Parents, stressed beyond their breaking points by forces out of their control, can make split-second decisions that put their children in jeopardy. When home is no longer safe, these kids will enter the foster care/child welfare system.

From July 1, 2009 through January 2010, CASA of St. Landry Parish has trained 26 volunteers, closed 14 cases, served 72 children; and they are expecting the need for their services to grow.

But the same recession that is driving the kids into the system has imperiled funding. CASA needs your help. St. Landry has 114 children in foster care. CASA’s goal is to place a volunteer with every child in foster care.

The good news is that CASA runs on the power of trained volunteers who save taxpayers millions of dollars each year by getting kids out of foster care and into safe, permanent homes.

The cost to give a kid a CASA volunteer is $135 a year. That’s just $11.25 per month.

Who can be an advocate? You must:

• Be age 21 or older.
• Submit an application, no special background is required.
• Consent to criminal background and child abuse registry checks.
• Complete a 30-hour training course.
• Commit to help a child for at least one year.
• Attend 12 hours of in-service training after taking a case

Carleen Jones, the executive director of CASA of St. Landry, has worked tirelessly to ensure that no child is left behind. She can be seen in the community sharing the need for sponsors.

According to Jones, there are many stories to tell.

Yet, Jones is very optimistic that the Opelousas community has support in supplying for the needs of children.

It is hoped that more people will share their time and resources.

The requirements are easy to fulfill, for love for children and a desire to make their lives better are the key ingredients.

Jones can be reach a 948-3550. Learn more at www. casastlandry.org.

Stella Thomas is principal of the Magnet Academy of Cultural Arts in Opelousas and a long-time contributor to the Daily World. Her column appears Sundays.

Source: http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20100207/NEWS01/2070324