A Voice for our Children
Floyd County CASA volunteers are needed to advocate for children in the foster care system.
There
are 337 children in Floyd County’s foster care system in Floyd County. They need advocates. They need adults who are trained to look out for their best interests. That’s why Sue Lagermann needs help. Lagermann is the program director for Floyd County Court Appointed Special Advocates, an organization that provides trained and supervised volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children involved in juvenile court proceedings.
From their office in what is now the Restoration Rome building (formerly Southeast Elementary School building), Lagermann, Amy Markwald and Lynne Burton do all they can to make sure Floyd’s foster kids have advocates. But they’re only scratching the surface. “We have 28 volunteers,” Lagermann said. “We’re only serving 21 percent of the children in the foster care system. That’s why we need local people who are willing to be friends and mentors and advocates for these children. You don’t have to have any experience. We’ll train you.”
CASA volunteers are paired with a child or children, according to the needs of the child and availability of the volunteer. The volunteer watches over an assigned child and stays with the child’s case until it’s closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home.
For many children, Lagermann said, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence who can provide a stable influence in their life.
Anyone over 21 can volunteer, Lagermann said, as long as they pass a criminal background check and undergo 40 hours of training which includes time in court proceedings. They must have a desire to work with and help children.
“You’ll be an advocate, friend and mentor for the child,” Lagermann said. “You’ll have to earn their trust by being reliable and keeping your word — showing up and doing things when you say you will. Many of these children feel neglected and abandoned.”
Volunteers can choose to visit the child at home or at school, accompany the child on field trips, spend time with them and learn their needs in order to advocate for them.
Some of the most challenging foster care cases are appointed to CASA volunteers to help the court become more knowledgeable about a youngster’s life. When children in foster care have a voice in the court proceedings that impact their lives, everyone benefits, Lagermann said.
“But most especially, the children do because the quality of the decisions being made about them improves,” she said.
Lagermann knows more than most how a volunteer’s care and attention can affect a child’s life.
Twenty
years ago she visited Southeast Elementary School (where her office is now located) where she was assigned her first case — a six year old boy whose mom and brother were killed in a car wreck. He had no immediate family.
“I was the only mother he had,” Lagermann said. “We went on field trips and I visited him regularly. He’s still very special to me and I keep in contact with him even now that he’s all grown up.”
Lagermann dedicated her new book that child, her first case, and it’s only fitting that the book tells of an eight-year-old girl, Violet, who comes into the foster care system, is separated from her sisters, and details her fears and struggles as she makes her way through the system.
The book, “Violet Daisy Flowers Becomes a Foster Kid” is designed to help adults and children understand the system a little better and to make it less intimidating for them.
The book is available at Do Good Boutique on Broad Street or by calling 706-235-2272. It costs $10 and all the proceeds go to Floyd County CASA.
CASA will offer day, evening and weekend training to anyone interested in volunteering as well as support throughout the case.
“This is really important work but it’s very rewarding,” Lagermann said. “We need volunteers but we need GOOD volunteers. Once you go through the training you’ll realize you can do it. Don’t be intimidated. You will not be doing this alone. We have a staff that will help you.”
She added that if there are Floyd County residents who would like to volunteer but can’t be a child advocate, there are other ways to help out as well. Molly Caldwell is one Rome resident who answered the call and will be sworn in as a CASA volunteer on Tuesday.
“These kids come from extremely difficult circumstances which most of us can’t imagine,” she said. “They need someone with their best interest in mind, someone who can be their voice. I know being a Court Appointed Special Advocate will be hard, but I feel that we all have a responsibility to give back to our community, and this program is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
To find out more about volunteering with Floyd County CASA, visit online at