WISH LIST $100: 2 training manuals for volunteers; $500: recruiting, screening and training 1 volunteer; $1100: comprehensive advocacy services for 1 child for an entire year

Fairfax Court Appointed Special Advocates recruits, screens, trains, and supervises volunteers who are then empowered by the Court to advocate for children who are the victims of abuse and neglect. So it’s a very tough job, and a demanding one. Volunteer advocates receive 35 hours of highly specialized training: learning how to investigate cases of abuse and neglect, submit recommendations about a child’s best interest, observe children in their placements, and work both with the child’s guardian and the court. Finding and training volunteers (especially males, and bilingual, Spanish-speaking ones) is challenging and also costly. But studies show that children with CASA volunteers fare far better in the system than others: lower rates of re-abuse, shorter out-of-home placements, and fewer changes, all minimize the secondary trauma of being in the juvenile protection system. The goal here is speedily to place children in safe, loving families and help them grow into healthy adults. “There are children alive today because [of] CASA,” Judge Michael Valentine recently remarked. You can volunteer your resources to this very worthy cause.

Lynda A. Williams, Executive Director 4103 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 200 Fairfax, VA 22030 703-273-3526, ext 11 www.casafairfax.org