Our Daily Show Interview! CASA of Southwestern IL: Urgent Need of Volunteers
BELLEVILLE - CASA of Southwestern Illinois is looking for 25 Madison County residents to sign up to support local foster kids.
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CASAs, or Court-Appointed Special Advocates, spend five hours a month with a child who has experienced abuse or neglect, most of whom are in the foster care system. The volunteers then write a report for the judge to help the judge make the best decision for the child. Lynda Camp with CASA of Southwestern Illinois noted that volunteers are needed to help in this mission.
“The volunteer is really there to help a child who’s in need,” Camp said. “It’s just being someone that they can confide in, turn to for support. Really, it’s like being a professional friend, as we like to call it.”
Volunteers must be 21 or older and pass a background check. These volunteers are asked to commit to a child for the duration of their case.
They can make their own hours, but five hours a month is the standard time commitment for these cases. Camp noted that this flexibility lends itself well to people who work full-time or have busy schedules.
When you sign up to volunteer, someone will contact you within 24 hours and conduct a brief phone interview. They will run a background check, and then you will undergo extensive training with other volunteers. CASA of SW IL is planning to set their August training date soon.
After completing the training, the volunteers are sworn in by a judge and assigned to a child. Camp noted that it takes “a special person” to volunteer, but these volunteers aren’t superheroes; they’re normal people who care about helping kids in their community. Anyone can make a big difference.
“Just really having the passion and the heart to care for kids — they just need someone there,” Camp said. “They’re going through really rough times.”
CASAs are sometimes the one steady presence in a child’s life. They act as the “eyes and ears” for the judge, writing reports so the judge gets a better understanding of what is happening in that child’s life.
Volunteers can ask to work with a specific age group. Many of the volunteers develop a close relationship with their assigned child. Camp believes this is a “really, really special” part of the volunteer experience.
“Some of them really form a special bond with whatever child that they’re assigned to. They get those lifelong memories of just being there for them,” she explained. “They have to really have a passion for kids. Just hearing [the volunteers] talk about meeting with a child and how happy and excited they are, seeing their face light up — that’s really special to me, just knowing that I’m making a positive impact in someone’s life.”
CASA of SW IL serves Madison, St. Clair, Bond, Monroe and Randolph counties. Camp hopes to welcome at least 25 volunteers from Madison County to their August training. Though they have nearly 150 volunteers already, there are hundreds of local kids in the foster care system who would benefit from having a CASA of their own.
“If you’re interested, refer a friend, tell a neighbor, just a few more, because the kids really need you,” Camp said.
For more information about CASA of Southwestern Illinois, visit their official website. You can click here for more information about becoming a volunteer.
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