Published: March 21, 2008 06:16 pm            

The courage to give, for the children

Houston describes efforts to becoming volunteer for local CASA office

Don Houston says he’s a new CASA volunteer because he let his heart lead the way.

Thousands of children are removed from their homes each year because they’ve been abused or neglected — with hundreds of those cases being reported in Henderson County. As their cases proceed through the court system, Court Appointed Special Advocates are assigned to the cases with one purpose in mind — to be sure a child’s needs are met at each step of the process.

“I’ve known about CASA for a long time and people who have been involved in CASA down through the years,” said Houston, external affair manager with Embarq Corporation in Athens. “About two years ago, one of our employees, Jan Jones, asked me for a letter of reference because she was going to become a volunteer.”

Jones was accepted and went through the CASA training. As she began to deal with cases that dealt with area children, she began to encourage Houston to get involved.

“When I rotated off the Chamber of Commerce Board, I got a little bit of my free time back. I had been involved in many things around the community because, in my mind, I knew it was the right thing to do. But I could feel my heart pulling me toward CASA,” Houston said.

Houston turned in his application in December and was soon accepted into the CASA program. He agreed to undergo the required training and committed to serve at least one year as a volunteer.

“When they invest the time to get you trained and ready for the children to be assigned, they want you to remain with the program for a while,” Houston said.

The training was conducted over a three week span at the CASA office on East Tyler St. Once the training is complete, Houston said, volunteers come back regularly for continuing education.

Houston’s training began in early February. He and another man attended the half-day sessions. There was a great need for men among the CASA volunteers, Houston said.

Houston is now working on his first case with CASA, involving a 6-year-old boy.

“I can vaguely remember being a 6-year-old boy. Maybe that gives me the opportunity to relate to him in a way a woman couldn’t,” Houston said.

When a case goes to court, Houston said, Child Protective Services becomes the guardian of the child. The court then instructs CASA to become involved.

Houston had just completed his training when Casework Supervisor Vicki Sussen asked him to help with the boy’s case.

“As a volunteer, you are given the choice of taking or not taking the case,” Houston said. “But if a volunteer doesn’t take it, it falls back on the CASA workers to do their due diligence to ensure that the child’s advocacy is heard by the court.”

Houston said one of his first activities regarding the child’s case was to accompany Sussen to a supervised visit between the boy and his parents. Houston has also visited with the parents and grandparents of the child.

“The court’s objective, along with CPS and CASA, is to get the child back in permanent housing as soon as possible,” Houston said. “That means to find a permanent, appropriate home that is safe and secure.”

The court’s preference is to someday return the child to his parents. If there are parenting issues, Houston said, they may be required to attend parenting classes. There are tasks the parents have to work through before the child is returned.

“As you know, sometimes that is not the safest place for a child,” Houston said. “If that’s the case, then you would look at grandparents, other blood relatives or close friends who have relationships with the family. There are a lot of men and women out there that make awfully good parents.”

“Both my children are adopted. They’re now age 22 and 21. One of the reasons I think my heart was pulling me in this direction was because of the experience I had with my kids,” Houston said.

“Those little ones deserve a safe house to live in, people that care for them and a chance to grow up and to be as productive as they can possibly be.”

In 2006 the Child Protective Services database reported that Henderson County had 16 reported cases of child abuse per 1,000 children. Last year, 4,928 CASA volunteers advocated for the best interests of 20,509 abused and neglected children in foster care statewide. Currently, there are 68 local CASA programs serving 202 counties.

“It breaks your heart,” Houston said. “God didn’t make the family unit to be separated like you see so many times today.”

Lee Ann Millender is executive director for CASA of Trinity Valley which serves Henderson County from its Athens location.

Millender said her office has about 60 volunteers to cover a three-county area. Even with that number, she said about a third of CASA’s cases don’t have a volunteer. The goal is to have one volunteer per child.

“Right now there’s a huge deficiency in that area,” Millender said. “We’ve got good staff, but volunteers help in that they have more time and ability to focus on those individual children’s needs.”

CASA welcomes volunteers from all cultures, professions, and ethnic and educational backgrounds.

“If someone cares about children, they’re quite likely qualified to be a CASA volunteer,” Houston said. “You may see some heart wrenching situations, but that’s what the job is.”

        

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