Keeping Watch Over Children In the System

Court Appointed Special Advocate program staff member Ann Caulkins helps conduct a volunteer training session. (Mark Gail - Twp)

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, CASA served 36 children in Arlington and 156 in Alexandria. The new funds will allow the program to hire an additional full-time staff member (there are now two). The organization then plans to take on 25 more volunteers, which means an additional 50 to 75 children could be served in the county next year.

"It was crucial that we expand this program," said CASA program director Carrie Cannon. "We've been successful in Alexandria and we figured Arlington is right next door, and we wanted to make sure that children had a voice in both jurisdictions."

George D. Varoutsos, a juvenile court judge who helped bring the program to Arlington, said some officials weren't convinced that CASA was needed and thought the system of paid social workers and other professionals was enough to aid troubled kids.

"No one was against it; they were just willing to do it the way we had been," said Varoutsos, who is chief judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for Arlington and Falls Church. "I think CASA is an outstanding program that they have in a lot of places, and I thought we should have it. And it's gone very well so far."

CASA was started in Seattle in the 1970s by a juvenile court judge who felt he wasn't getting enough information about the children he evaluated. There are now more than 900 CASA program offices nationwide, including in Fairfax and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia, the District and Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.

Judges rely on CASA volunteers to be their eyes and ears when children are placed in the system. In Alexandria, volunteers are assigned to about 65 percent of the abuse and neglect cases that pass through juvenile court, and virtually all of the difficult cases have "a CASA," as they are known, said Nolan B. Dawkins, the court's chief judge.

Volunteers work with the Department of Social Services on problems that range from physical abuse to parents not properly feeding their children or leaving them unattended. They start by going through the court file and then interview the child and every important person in the child's life, including parents, social workers and mental health therapists.

Each CASA volunteer compiles all this information into a report for the judge, including what the volunteer thinks is best for the child. That may be putting or keeping children in foster care, returning them to their parents or even recommending adoption. The volunteer then follows the case, visiting the child at least monthly, until the child's life has stabilized to the point where the file is closed.

"I think children kind of get lost in the system," said Jennifer Marfino, 35, an Arlington boutique owner who began volunteering last year. "The social services people are amazing, but they are completely overworked. They might have 20 cases, and each one is really intense. We plug a gap in the system, and we give the child a voice."

Volunteers can stay on a case anywhere from six months to three years and can work as much as 15 to 20 hours a week. Cannon said one volunteer just finished a case in which she was the only person to stay with the child all three years -- the social workers, lawyers and foster homes all changed, as did the child's school.

The volunteers include students and real estate agents, engineers and retirees. They must be at least 21, pass a series of background checks and be willing to undergo a six-week training course. CASA officials said they have no problem finding volunteers through the Internet, ads in newspapers and word of mouth.

"It's amazing that the state puts their faith in volunteers and allows them to do this and that people are willing to do it," Marfino said. "I think all volunteer work is important, but you are really putting your mind to use here, and it's so intense."