Community Corner
Father's Day: A Good Time to Think About Becoming a CASA Volunteer
Father's Day is a day of celebration for most kids but foster kids, its often a different kind of day
For most children, Father’s Day means honoring their father. It means giving a Father’s Day gift, enjoying Father’s Day traditions, remembering Father’s Day memories and creating new Father’s Day memories.
But for children in foster care system, the day can be a painful reminder that they don’t have a reliable father figure or even positive male role model. Once removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect, they are often placed far from loved ones, creating uncertainty.
Our volunteers, who serve as court-appointed special advocates, help provide stability. They make sure that these children receive what a loving father would give them - a safe home and a good school as well as unconditional love, guidance and support.
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“Our CASA volunteers are special advocates, and they are special people. They step up and make a difference,” said Ann Marie Binsner, Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County.
“Their main goal is to help get their youth out of temporary foster care and into a permanent home as soon as possible so that they never spend another Father’s Day without a permanent and caring parental figure,” Binsner said.
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Children who have a CASA volunteer typically spend less time in foster care. They are also more apt to graduate from high school, less apt to become a teenage parent and less likely, once they age out of foster care, to slip into poverty, homelessness and joblessness.
“We consider our CASA volunteers to be true heroes, and we need a lot more of them,” said Binsner said. “There are now nearly 500 foster children in Prince George’s County but only about 160 CASA volunteers. Of those volunteers, only 16% are men.”
“Our goal is to have a CASA volunteer for each foster child. Please help us reach that goal. Please consider becoming a CASA and help a foster child find a permanent home where they will enjoy having a permanent, stable parent,” Binsner said.
We are now accepting applications for our next volunteer training which begins July 18th. For more information, please go to www.pgcasa.org or call us at 301-209-0491