CT volunteers help abused and neglected kids. Their work expanded as ‘every child is significant’

Most often these Connecticut children have had an adverse childhood experience. "They have been traumatized. Sometimes the trauma has been physical and sometimes it was sexual."

The Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates’ work to supply vital support to children in need across the state due to abuse or neglect has expanded to four more courthouses.

In addition to New Haven, Waterbury and Torrington, the nonprofit, often called CASA, is also now providing its services in the Hartford, Willimantic, Rockville, and New Britain courts.

Connecticut CASA Executive Director Josiah H. Brown has overseen the expansion over the past four years that started in 2020 in New Haven and then expanded to Waterbury and Torrington two years later. Those are three of the four largest Child Protection courts in the state.

The CASA program model assumes one of their staff people per 30 of its volunteers, on average serving 75 children in need. Volunteers collaborate with professionals in the child welfare system, and are supervised by staff who ensure advocacy and follow-through, including regular reporting to judges.

The CASA approach aims to offer greater stability and children supported by CASA volunteers are less likely to return to foster care, according to the organization. Connecticut CASA is governed by a board, which, with an advisory council, ambassadors, and professional staff, expand what volunteers can do for children. The organization has a blend of funding: public, foundation grants and individual donations.

“We have become a statewide organization,” Brown said. “This has been a collective endeavor. We work with the pros from DCF (Department of Children and Families) as well as attorney’s, educators, pediatricians, the children and the families. Every child is significant.”

There are five total staff at Connecticut CASAs that provide volunteers who advocate for children in need in the courtroom and beyond.

‘The overall wellbeing of the child’

“The volunteers get to know the children and their situation,” Brown said. “They obtain records from educators and arrange summer camps. They often obtain medical and educational records. Many are transient and move from one school to another. It’s good to have another person representing the child’s interest.”

“Our volunteers aren’t a rubber stamp and aren’t always going to agree with DCF and we’ve received encouraging responses from all involved. Judges have appreciated the additional information our volunteers have provided, and it helps give another voice for the child in the courts,” Brown said.

Brown said children with volunteers are more likely to achieve better outcomes and are less likely to return to foster care.

“Our children tend to have greater levels of hope for future trajectories, academically and social,” Brown said.

New Haven is still the busiest court for Connecticut CASA.

“Every day I wake up excited about working with the board members, colleagues and volunteers,” Brown said. “We also have sorority chapters at campuses around the state at Quinnipiac, Yale, Sacred Heart and UConn. We can make a difference for the children and are inspired to help them — together.”

All volunteers go through extensive training. They train for 30 hours before going into the field. To supplement that, volunteers do 12 more hours of training each year.

Meriden resident Dwayne Jackson has been a volunteer with CASA for four years. He’s had eight children with eight different cases during his tenure.

Most of the children he has helped were younger than 12 but he is currently advocating for a 16-year-old.

“Our role as volunteers is to observe the overall wellbeing of the child,” Jackson said. “We want to make sure they have a nurturing environment and find out what the parents have to do to get the children back in their custody.”

He sees his clients at least once a month, but in some cases, visits are more frequent. He has spoken to teachers, school psychologists and teachers to make sure grades are up to par and the child’s attendance record is positive.

He’s also worked with the Department of Correction to speak with an incarcerated parent to get more information. He also works with DCF to make initial contacts with the child and learn more about why DCF is involved in the case.

Jackson has also given reports to the court in advance of hearings and has been invited to be involved in hearings as well.

“We want to make the court process more informed and the more information the judge has the better,” Jackson said. “We are impartial observers, and we give a sense of objectivity in court.”

After one case was decided, Jackson continued seeing one of his clients at the request of the child’s guardian.

“These children are in the child welfare system and in the court system because a caretaker is in a situation where they can’t provide for their children,” Jackson said. “Most often these children have had an adverse childhood experience. They have been traumatized. Sometimes the trauma has been physical and sometimes it was sexual. Or they witness something traumatic that affected their psyche.”

Jackson is a retired human resource worker. He’s been volunteering for 13 years. He served in the Peace Corps abroad in Africa from 2012 to 2017. He is also a board chair of Journey Home – a mission to reduce homelessness based in Hartford.

Farmington resident David Kinahan had volunteered at CASA in New Orleans and has been a volunteer in Connecticut for the last two years.

“I wanted to advocate for the kids and their best interests,” Kinahan said. “It’s really a unique and often complex volunteer opportunity. If you are someone who wants an opportunity to have a nice bow at the end of a case – this is not the opportunity for you. There are a lot of complexities. Even when things are resolved well – it’s not likely a happy ending.”

“The silver lining is knowing you had a positive influence on a younger person and often on their family,” he added.

Kinahan has worked in eight cases in two years. Initially, was working out of the Waterbury court and now works out of New Britain. In fact, Kinahan was on CASA’s first case in the New Britain court.

“The dynamics are always different in each case,” Kinahan said. “The family is looking at you with suspicion and you are getting very involved. You have access to a lot of information. You are building trust with the child and parents.

“You have to build those relationships pretty quickly. You have to learn a lot of information in a short period of time to get the best outcome…There is more children in foster care that need help that they aren’t getting right now,” he said. “This is an important organization that does critical work. I wish it didn’t have to exist, but the need is there.”

South Windsor’s Deborah Marconi has been with CASA since March of 2022.

“It’s been great,” Marconi said. “It’s tough. It’s heartbreaking. I just had my CASA child call me and he was distraught. I talked him off the ledge. They don’t always have that kind of support. They need that at times. When you forge those relationships it’s pretty amazing.”

Marconi is currently working with two teenagers from two different cases.

“It’s a unique volunteering experience,” Marconi said. “There’s a lot of training and you are challenged along the way. I find it really rewarding on the league side and on the relationship side with the kids.”

Marconi is working with CASA’s first Willimantic case.

“When there is a CASA advocate on the case there are better outcomes,” Marconi said. “We have no biases. We are advocating for the child and when we speak in court, they aren’t getting a biased report. A lot of times we unearth things that DCF workers don’t have the opportunity to focus on. I just have two kids to focus on – they have many, many more. We work closely together. We are another pair of eyes and ears to these kids.”

Marconi said building relationships with the children is as simple as showing up regularly. Over time a bond is built.

“They’ve experienced abuse and neglect,” Marconi said. “The cases I’ve been on are sad cases. There’s a breakdown in the family unit for whatever reason. They are struggling and need as much support as they can get in the process to move forward with their lives.”

For more information on CASA, email volunteer@ConnecticutCASA.org.

CASA also recently elected board members: Dr. Linda Mayes, Brent Peterkin and Merle Berke-Schlessel.