With all the facts and figures, it's tough to remember the human side of child abuse and neglect. We tend to stereotype the victims or deny any connection between them and our happy, safe neighborhoods. But all the children that our CASA program serves live in Santa Barbara County—in our community—and they're not just statistics. Each one is an individual with a compelling story to share.

The same is true of our volunteers. We take ordinary people with extraordinary hearts and train them to be able advocates. They are community members who realize the need to help these children, and each one has a unique background and talents that he or she brings to the CASA cause.

The profiles offered here attempt to personalize the CASA program for you. They are the details behind all the numbers that best convey the importance of CASA and why we need volunteers like you to join our cause.

CASA volunteers come from all walks of life and experience. There is no "typical" volunteer, other than someone who has a soft spot in his or her heart for children in need. However, to illustrate the experiences of one volunteer in Santa Barbara County can give you a sense that advocates come from just about anywhere.

Steve was gainfully employed at a major local electronics company as an enterprise software project manager. In other words, he was responsible for one of the big software applications that everyone in the company used. His job involved making sure that the software was running, was routinely maintained, that users were trained on how to use it, and troubleshooting system and user problems.

He has a terrific family, including a wife and two teenage children at home, and two more children already married and "gone." Steve also was actively involved with his church and had been the director of the high school program for a number of years. Having passed the baton on to someone else to run the high school program, and after a little rest (you know high school students!) he decided that he would like to find another outlet for his natural affinity towards children.

One day, a mail solicitation arrived that asked for donations to this organization called "CASA." Included was a brochure describing the mission of the CASA organization and how much good it does for the abused and neglected children in Santa Barbara County and the benefits to the community at large. His first temptation was to dispose of it, but he decided to read on. After discussing this thoroughly with his wife, and concluding that this was an extremely noble cause, he decided to investigate further.

To become an advocate, one had to meet certain personal criteria (see Be an Advocate) and needed to attend a 30-hour training course. He called the CASA office and discovered that a training course was scheduled for a few weeks ahead, and that he didn't need to make a final decision on whether to accept these responsibilities until the class was complete. To be honest, the thing that scared Steve the most was the time requirement of 3 to 5 hours per week. But, he signed up for the class.

The teacher and the training materials were terrific! They learned about the Child Welfare Services (CWS) organization, some basic information on the child welfare laws, how the court system worked and particularly how Juvenile Court operated, and what was expected of a CASA Advocate. By the end of the class, Steve was convinced. This was the place where he could really make a difference. As a CASA advocate, not only can you be a mentor to a child (or children, if you wish,) but you can also have a positive, visible, and tangible impact on his or her future.

Steve was assigned his first case, a teenage boy who was neglected and abused by a mentally ill mother and who had no father. He was already in foster care in north county when Steve received his case. While it was difficult to see him very often (Steve lived in south county) it was an experience getting to know him and his situation. He was with a good family that had two other foster teens. His first court report was an experience. The teen he was working with had some experience with drugs and was expected by CWS to provide random drug tests. He was doing well. But later, he got involved with other teens who were not so good for him and he ended up being arrested on an auto-theft charge.

Steve followed him through the delinquency court system and continued working with him until he was released. He ended up doing very will in the system, his grades improved, and Steve was hopeful that he would work through these issues. Shortly after his release, he reached the age of 18, and went on his way.

Within a month or two Steve accepted another case. This was a situation where a family environment was interrupted when the father and mother were arrested. The children, 10 and 8 year old boys, were put in the emergency shelter while the parents worked out their legal situation. The mother was stable enough to get the children back, and Steve took the case after the children were already returned home.

This was a case where the power of drug addiction overcame the sensibilities of parental instincts. Steve reasoned that the mother, while not perfect, was providing for the children, and he wanted to see if the mother could resolve her legal difficulties and still care for the children. Over the first year, the mother worked out her problems and Steve provided some guidance to keep her at home, suggesting electronic monitoring instead of jail time, for example. This helped. Mom, however, could not break the habit and was subsequently rearrested. With the children back in the system, Steve worked closely with CWS to find the children a new home. It took nearly another six months, but the children were moved to a relative in another state and now they are thriving.

In this last case, it is significant to note that, during the four years that Steve was involved in this case, there were six CWS case workers, four lawyers, two deputy district attorneys, and three Juvenile Court judges involved. But only one CASA advocate. Every time a new official became involved, the one place they could all turn for an update on the case was Steve, the children's CASA Advocate.

Mentioned earlier was Steve's initial concern over the number of hours involved in being a CASA advocate. This concern evaporated once he became involved with his first case. It's not hard to find room for children. Steve could do a lot of the research necessary on his lunch hour at work. He could make his visits on the weekends and, while not necessary, Steve was able to make up any time he took off of work to attend court hearings and advocate for these children's interests. Once you're hooked, the time no longer seems to be a concern. In addition, the hours can fall off after the research has been initially completed. Much of the time spent was just doing things with the kids.

Finally, to look back, Steve can actually see the results of his efforts. He has been a CASA advocate for over seven years and he plans to continue. You can too. Please consider the value and impact of looking out for and being an advocate for an abused or neglected child.

A recent story of CASA's importance in advocating for children and providing them with a more objective voice regarding ultimate best interest in placement:

Success! Family Maintenance Restored!

Last fall, little 4 yr old "Alex" was removed from the home of his biological parents by CWS, due to their drug/alcohol use and consistent inability to safely parent him. Soon after his removal, mom found out she was also pregnant with their 2nd child. Alex was placed by CWS in LA with a paternal aunt, and both parents were ordered into Project Recovery and compliance with their case plan in order to get Alex back.

Mom and Dad both began complying with all aspects of their CWS case plan, got into substance abuse treatment and recovery programs, and made every possible effort to visit Alex in LA and maintain their relationship with him and support him during this ordeal.

Both mom and dad successfully became sober within six months of the removal of Alex, and seemed to be committed to turning their lives around in order to reunify their family and provide a safe, loving, and drug/alcohol-free home for both of their children.

Because of the intensity and complexity of substance abuse and its effect in incapaciting most parents' ability to properly care for their children, the other players on this case (CWS worker, District Attorney, Judge) were VERY hesitant to return the children to the parents, despite all of their demonstrated efforts. Their efforts had been exemplary and unusually quick in these type of cases, so the nervousness of the parties to return the children home was understandable, but also not ideal for the children. The children remained in foster care while the court was debating returning them to Mom and Dad, or keeping them in long-term foster care.

Finally, the judge decided to appoint CASA to the case, because he felt he needed a more objective recommendation in order to move forward with Family Maintenance (returning the children to the care and custody of their parents), or keep the children in their foster placement.

A well-trained and very seasoned advocate was matched with Alex, and he began to assess the situation- the parents, Alex, the foster placement, and the other factors which come into play on the best permanent placement for the child. After spending three months on the case, he was able to strongly recommend to the court that Alex would be best placed back in Family Maintenance with his parents, and that their extraordinary efforts were very real, and that they would be able to now provide the safe and loving home that substance abuse had previously prevented them from doing. The bond between the parents and Alex was incredible, and their ability to become clean and sober so quickly is and was a testament to their ultimate commitment to their children, and overwhelming desire to be good parents.

In May, the case had a review hearing, for which the CASA had previously submitted his court report recommending that Alex be returned to his parents. The judge during this hearing agreed with the CASA's recommendations, and was finally comfortable making the decision to return the child home, and reunify this family. He stepped down from the bench, handed Alex a teddy bear, thanked the CASA for his good work, and congratulated the parents for their efforts on behalf of their children.