Volunteer Advocate
Voices for Children, Inc. - Bryan
Voices for Children, CASA of Brazos Valley, is a volunteer based program which recruits and trains qualified community members to advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children. Every year more than half a million abused and neglected children are in need of safe, permanent, nurturing homes. Our community volunteers are appointed by a district court judge to be the eyes and ears of the court by gathering information, locating potential relative caregivers, advocating for the child's educational, psychological and medical needs, and making recommendations to the court for a safe and permanent home as quickly as possible. Volunteers have the ability to focus on one case at a time and, as such, are uniquely positioned to discover and report factors that determine the child's best interest in a way that overburdened CPS caseworkers typically are not. The CASA volunteer provides stability for the child in a time of constant change, resulting in better grades, less involvement in the juvenile justice system and most importantly, an average of seven fewer months spent in foster care.
About Voices for Children, Inc. - Bryan
Location:
115 North Main Street, Bryan, TX 77803, US
Mission Statement
Voices For Children's mission is to advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children under the court's jurisdiction until they are placed into a safe, nurturing, permanent home while ensuring that each child's needs are addressed and fully met.
Description
Each year, approximately 780,000 children in the US are caught up in the court and child welfare maze because they are unable to live safely at home. Imagine what it would be like to lose your parents, not because of something you did, but because they can't--or won't--take care of you. Now, into these children's lives come dozens of strangers: police, foster parents, therapists, social workers, judges, lawyers, and more. Hopefully, one of these strangers is a CASA volunteer.
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) was created in 1977 to make sure the abuse and neglect these children originally suffered at home doesn't continue as abuse and neglect at the hands of the system. As trained advocates, CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to be a voice for these children in court. The result is that a child is placed into a safe, loving home where he/she can thrive.
Voices For Children was formed in 2000 with this vision in mind. As a member of both National CASA and Texas CASA, we have advocated for more than 400 children, over 75% who have already found a permanent and loving home. It is the goal of Voices For Children to provide a CASA volunteer for each and every abused and neglected child in Brazos, Burleson, and Grimes counties who needs one.