CASA seeks volunteers

In 2004, an estimated 3 million child abuse and neglect cases were investigated in the U.S., states a report released by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Of those cases, it was determined, by investigators, more than 800,000 children were actual victims of maltreatment.
Court Appointed Special Advocates volunteers are working to make a difference in the lives of abused, abandoned and neglected children in the Baton Rouge area, one case at a time.
“CASA volunteers are everyday people who can have a tremendous impact on a child,” said Risa Mueller, recruitment coordinator for CASA Baton Rouge.
With the numbers of children being abused increasing each year, Mueller is now seeking more volunteers to help those adolescents in need of a better tomorrow.
Mueller said, current special advocates are at least 21 years of age and are all variably different from one another, including a variety of ethnic and educational backgrounds.
Through their work, they become a voice and liaison of the abused kids who usually end up in foster care until the state can decide what to do with them.
During that time, advocates spend at least 10 to 15 hours a month with a child in order to learn his or her specific needs and wants, which can have a lasting effect on the damaged youth.
Approximately 80 percent of the children are African-American, Mueller said, but only 35 percent of CASA volunteers share the same racial background as the children it serves.
“We need that to change,” Mueller said. “Everyone is needed.”
Deborah Paul, senior woman administrator and compliance coordinator at Southern University, is scheduled to become a CASA volunteer beginning September 12.
Paul said her interest in the program was sparked by the involvements of both her sister and friend who are current volunteers with CASA.
But Paul isn’t the only Southernite stepping up to CASA’s challenge. Some SU student athletes have also joined in with a CASA project on August 13 at Mall of Louisiana.
“Working as a CASA volunteer was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in giving back to my community,” said Myers Namie, a Southern University Law School graduate who now works as an assistant district attorney.
Myers said he began volunteering with CASA while in law school, during which time he had three different cases which took him approximately a year and a half to work on before a resolution about the child’s fate could be made.
Mueller said some CASA volunteers have had to experience several delicate scenarios involving beaten infants, and toddlers left alone and unsupervised while their parents go on drinking binges.
Persons interested in volunteering their time can attend the next CASA volunteer training session in Baton Rouge scheduled to be held on September 12 at 341 St. Joseph Street.
Mueller said since many CASA volunteers have full-time careers, the training is for three weeks and can be done on nights and weekends.
For further information, visit www.casabr.org or call (225) 279-8598.