Annual Gala Will Recognize Volunteers Who Advocate For Children In County Foster Care
Annual Gala Will Recognize Volunteers Who Advocate For Children In County Foster Care
BY KATHERINE NEWMAN
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County, a nonprofit organization providing children in foster care with courtroom advocates, will host its annual fall gala, A Whimsical Evening, at the Chicago Cultural Center, 76 E. Washington St., at 6 p.m. on Oct. 23.
The upcoming gala will recognize the more than 200 volunteers who work with CASA of Cook County and who serve as advocates for children in Cook County while they are in the foster care system.
CASA is a nationwide organization that aims to improve the foster care system in each jurisdiction that it serves along with working to improve the everyday lives of foster care children, according to information provided by CASA of Cook County.
“There are 1,000 CASAs across the country and more specifically, there are 31 CASAs in the State of Illinois. CASA of Cook County, is the largest CASA in the state and we’re the largest because in the state of Illinois there are over 17,000 children who are in foster care and of those 17,000 children who are in foster care, 5700 of them are in Cook County,” said Bonita Carr executive director of CASA of Cook County.
The CASA program is separate from the Illinois Department of Children and Family services but CASA volunteers work hand in hand with child welfare professionals, according to Carr.
The volunteer advocates working for CASA of Cook County Casa go through 30 hours of rigorous training that consists of informing them on different aspects of child welfare and prepares them to be an advocate for children. After they go through the training and have a clear understanding of what their role is and what is expected of them,they are then sworn in by a court judge.
“The expectation of the advocate is that they are the eyes and ears of the court and they are to be objective when they write court reports in regards to their monthly visits. Our advocates visit their child every month, and in doing those monthly visits, they have direct contact with the child, they ask the child how they’re doing, what do they need, and what do they want, and what do they want them to tell the judge? They are a direct voice for the child to the judge in regards to their circumstance,” said Carr.
In addition to the volunteer advocates visiting with the children they represent, they also work with the foster parents, the attorney, the caseworker, and any other parties associated with the child’s case to gather information to make an informed recommendation to the court.
In the last year, CASA of Cook County advocated for children in 325 cases and reported that 47 percent of those cases resulted in children being reunited with families, 11 percent being placed with a relative, and 10 percent being permanently adopted.
To learn more about CASA of Cook County, visit www.casacookcounty.org.
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