CASA

Ever heard of CASA? Neither had I before last August. But what I heard really made sense and intrigued me.

If you have any experience with the US foster care system you know that each case is dramatically different and depending on the case workers, therapists, GAL (the Guardian Ad Litem- child's lawyer), and anyone else involved in a case (not the mention the child's parents themselves). Sometimes the case gets stalled somewhere between inception and completion. Some children are foster children almost their entire childhood. That is not healthy for a child, with the constant sense of insecurity, and should not happen.

Each state has a certain guideline time for a child to achieve permanency; whether through returning home to a parent who has successfully worked their case plan, through termination of parental rights (TPR) and a subsequent adoption, through a legal guardianship, or other avenue. If somewhere along the line, there is a breakdown in communication and progress, the Judge can request that a CASA be appointed to the case.

If the county has a CASA program, a CASA volunteer will be put on a specific case. They may be appointed for one child, or an entire sibling group, depending on the needs of the case. Once assigned to a case, a CASA has access to all those involved with the child, including the foster parent, case worker, teacher, coaches, evaluations done on the child, etc., to talk with them about the child's progress and situation. This access to anyone involved with the child is to allow the CASA to be the "eyes and ears" of the Judge.

If CASA is appointed, the Judge wants to know exactly what is going on in the case. Maybe the Judge is receiving conflicting reports about the case, the case is taking too long, or the Judge cannot understand the specifics about the case from the reports they have received. The CASA to collect facts so that the Judge can have a better sense of what is happening in a case so he can make an informed decision about what is in the best interests of the child. Although the CASA can make a recommendation as to what should happen with the goal for the case (return home, TPR, legal guardianship, etc.), the Judge ultimately makes the decision.

Becoming a CASA requires background checks and training courses. Once a person has completed that being a CASA you are required to see the child(ren) on your case a minimum of once per month and must observe their living quarters. The CASA must attempt to gather information on related to the specific concerns of the Judge, and also the child's (or children's) progress in school, therapy, extra-curricular activities, the child's relationships with others, etc.

CASA requires a time commitment of one year or more, but they prefer for the CASA to stay on one case the whole time, if possible. One of the objectives of being a CASA is to build a relationship with the child(ren) on your case through monthly (or more frequent) visits, and without a commitment of one year or more that can be difficult.

I have had a very rewarding experience as a CASA, and the case I was appointed to has been moved to adoption. I am happy to say that I contributed to a child achieving permanency in a happy and healthy home, where she is happy and well-adjusted. As an aside, I would have been equally happy to have the child return home if it was safe and appropriate, but that was not the case in this situation.

I'm looking forward to being assigned to my next case!

To read more about CASA, please check their website. This is a very rewarding way to get involved with foster care and (sometimes) adoption, and any amount of time spent working on a case will be very much worth it. Please consider this as a way to give back.

China Care!

Today's organization is a US based 501(3)(c) that helps care for Chinese orphans. As more children are brought into orphanages, and the wait for a referral from China gets longer for adoptive families, there is a huge need for help in Chinese orphanages. This specific charity is underwritten completely by the sponsors, so ALL money donated goes directly to helping the children!

But there is more to do than just donate money- you can actually get involved and go to China! They will be accepting applications for the Summer '09 volunteer trip in January. If you think that is a little more than you can do, China Care can help you donate specific items that the children's homes need for the babies and children in their care, and they will even arrange the shipping to China once you send it to their US headquarters. Check out their "Needs List" to see if you can help. Although they have lots of items on their Needs List, if you are involved in the medical industry and could get ahold of some samples, this would be a great way to give back.

OR, you can help fund a special project. You can help someone like this litte guy or this cutie with surgery and care expenses.

China Care also needs funding for drivers (to and from medical treatments), A/C and heat units for orphanages, and for a Group Educational Foster Home. Please check out their needs and help if you can.

If you are a student, teacher, or just a concerned community member who wants to get involved, then consider starting a China Care Club at your campus! By contacting the organization through the website here, they will send you a handbook and club kit that has everything you need to know to get started on your own club. This might be a great project for Girl Scouts or Cub Scouts.

Reece's Rainbow

Photo Credit: Reece's Rainbow Logo

What do you do on payday? If you're anything like me, you already have things picked out, and a lot of the money "spent" before you even get your check! The American lifestyle puts many of us into the "must consume, all the time" mentality. Also, if you are anything like me, there isn't much left over for fun stuff. I have taken a hard look at my money, and have realized that the stuff (aside from bills) that I am spending the most on isn't truly making me happy! Then WHY am I spending money on that? Hmmm....

But lately instead of looking forward to the new thing I want to buy, I have found a different and much more worthwhile way to spend my money. And it does truly make me happy and feel satisfied, so I had to share! I have been picking a face "out of the crowd" each time I get paid, and donating to their adoption grant! How do I do that?

Well...each time I get paid, I go to Reece's Rainbow to read through the profiles, and I donate to the adoption grant of a special needs child waiting to be adopted.

Reece's Rainbow was started by a woman whose son has the diagnosis of Down Syndrome (aka Trisomy 21). She wanted to help the orphans with Down Syndrome of Eastern Europe, but she ended up also including children with various other types of special needs, and expanded the ministry to include Asia, Africa and South and Central America as well.

Unfortunately, in some developing countries, children with special needs do not receive the same level of care as they would in the United States. In some countries in Eastern Europe special needs children who are not adopted before their fourth birthday are transferred to institutions for those with special needs. What makes this even worse is that those institutions often receive very little funding, are unequipped to give the children the care and therapies needed to improve their condition, and there is often a shortage of food. Worse still, these children are sometimes restrained (tied to the bed so that they cannot fall on the floor or move freely about the room), and starved because of inadequate food supplies and/or under equipped caregivers. With these types of conditions, it is no surprise that these children do not survive long in these institutions.

Reece's Rainbow is not an adoption agency, but instead a site where special needs children are profiled, and individuals can contribute money towards their adoption grants. When a qualified family comes forward to adopt a specific child, the grant for that child can be applied to the cost of the adoption. As I am sure most people know, international adoption can be quite costly, and for some families cost prohibitive.

These special children need special families who will love and care for them and help them reach their greatest potential! By contributing towards an adoption grant of a child featured on Reece's Rainbow, you can help a family bring one of these precious children home.

So, next time you get your paycheck, please consider giving to the adoption of one of these deserving children. Even if it's $5 or $10 dollars that you can spare, that might be enough to get the ball rolling for a child!

So far, I have helped three kiddos get closer to finding a forever family. That's better than anything else I could have bought myself, and it has become something I look forward to on payday.

Take a minute to check out the "Homecomings" page to see so many happy endings!

Feed the Hungry by Playing a Game?

Too good to be true it seemed! But, after playing the vocabulary game on FreeRice.com I have already donated 1,000 grains of rice to the hungry! Then I added the button to the side of the blog to make it easy for you to go play!

They also have other subjects like math, science, geography, art history, and even foreign languages. More material will be added to each of these subjects shortly. This game gave my brain a little work out! The site starts you off on a basic level, and then adjusts the difficulty of the questions depending on your answers, so it will be a challenge for people of all ages.

For every correct answer you 20 grains of rice are donated to a hungry person somewhere in the world through the UN World Food Program. The sponsor companies pay for the rice according to how many questions you answer correctly.

My question was- why don’t they just donate the rice without anyone having to play the game? People are hungry now, not after I am done playing the fun little games! But the FAQ sheet on the FreeRice website was ahead of me on that one, and here is what they had to say: “FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 20 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.”

See? Playing a game is necessary to donate to saving others from hunger on this site! Best justification I have ever heard. So take a break from whatever you are doing, go play a game, and give back!

*The FreeRice.com button is on the right side bar

NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH!

November is National Adoption Awareness Month! I do not consider adoption to be volunteering in any way, shape, or form; and it is certainly not for everyone. However, adopting is a fantastic way to give back and change a life forever.

Even if you do not feel called to adopt, there are many ways you can help adopting families and the children left behind without a family. This is important throughout the year, but especially at the holiday times when family traditions are such a special part of the season.

So, although November might not be exclusively about adoption related issues, that will be a main focus throughout the month. Check back regularly as I have been saving up some posts on this topic!

To get you started, here are Eight Ways to Celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month by Michele S. Martin from iparenting.

Edited to add: Speaking of adoption, Cupcake, our foster puppy was recently adopted by an awesome family and she is reportedly very happy in her new home :) We'll see who our next foster doggy is!

Cupcake Update and a Question

Remember Cupcake? Well.... My fiance and I are fostering her short-term starting on Saturday! I am really looking forward to taking care of her this weekend, and I am hopeful that she is now one step closer to finding a great family to love her.

I also hope that she likes Happy Ta*ls Mini Hot Dogs because she has a pack with her name on them waiting for her!

Now for the Question: Even if you have not made extreme changes in your life because of the financial situation in our country (if you live in the US), what are some things that you have done to cut back? And, what are some things that you like to do for free/inexpensive entertainment?

What we have done to cut back: Turned off the A/C in the end of August and have not turned on the heat, turn off lights we are not using, un-plug appliances when they are not in use, and the big one...we don't have cable or internet right now. We use internet at (law) school, work, or cafes. We can pick up a few channels of TV, but we aren't really big "TV people," anyways. I think we are probably saving about $100.00 a month, possibly more.

That savings helps in several ways: We can work the same amount and have more money left over, which translates into less stress. And we have more time and energy (that we aren't using stressing over finances) to spend doing volunteer work or doing other fun things.

For free or inexpensive entertainment we plan to go to the park and play soccer and tennis this weekend. We may also (weather permitting) go on a great Fall bike ride, and have been going out to eat less. We also try to go to Costco on Sundays for sample day. That might sound cheap, but we really are buying things anyways while we are there, it's just always more fun on sample day :)

Someone Out There Needs You

I'm sure we have all heard the news, our country is going through a financial crisis. The politicians are talking about this crisis hitting "Main Street" and what this means to middle class Americans. Thankfully, even though times are tough and we have cut back on certain spending, my fiance and I are blessed enough to have a nice home, food on the table, and warm clothes to wear.

Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury. With more and more foreclosures, where are all of these people going? I have seen news reports of families living out of their vans, or living in a tent at a campsite. And those aren't the worst of the stories. I'm not pointing fingers on whose fault that is, and each case is different, but it is definitely not the children's fault when their family is homeless.

The children, who need stability and security, can be traumatized when their family becomes homeless, and schooling often becomes an afterthought. When the parents have enough trouble just figuring out where they will live that night and what they will feed their children, you can't blame them if education is not their top priority. Or maybe it is, and the ends just aren't meeting. Whatever the situation, sometimes these homeless children need extra assistance with their education.

There are some great programs out there that facilitate volunteers spending an hour or more a week, helping children in homeless shelters or YMCA's with homework, tutoring, or general school support.

Here is more information homeless youth:

http://www.bisd.us/State_compensatory_UIL/homeless.htm

Here is a list of many organizations that help homeless youth:

http://www.zoominfo.com/Industries/foundation/charitable-organizations-foundations/tutoring.htm

Helping with schoolwork is obviously only one of the ways that you can help homeless youth. It is a growing problem in our country, especially now as economic times are especially tough.

Education is a window of opportunity for the youth of America. It is so very important in breaking the cycle of poverty. When a child is constantly being shifted from shelter to shelter, couch to couch, or place to place, gaps in education are highly likely. Without extra outside help, many of these gaps will never be filled, and educational progress is difficult when you don't understand the underlying concepts. How can you learn multiplication and division if you never correctly learned how to add and subtract?

Maybe you could help be a tutor, mentor, or friend to a child or teenager during a time of crisis in their life? If this appeals to you, please find an organization in your area and get involved.