CASA volunteers give abused children hope for future in Las Vegas

Ask yourself these questions: “Would I give a few hours a week to save the life of a child? … A few hours a week that could provide the child with a voice that would help guarantee fulfillment of hopes and dreams and a promising future?”

If you would, then there’s a program for you in Clark County. It’s called CASA, short for Court Appointed Special Advocate. And it involves vital interaction on your part as an advocate for a child who has been traumatized by abuse and neglect.

Children who are subjected to such forms of victimization can be found anywhere, including Summerlin. As Family Court Judge Frank Sullivan stated, “There are no genders, race or religion excluded. These kids come from well-to-do as well as impoverished families. They come from all walks of life.”

Sullivan oversees the CASA program in Clark County.

The need for CASA is great. While there is no monetary compensation for serving as a CASA, nobody explained the reward better than Sullivan: “If you give a child a CASA, then you’ve given that child a voice. And if you’ve given the child a voice, then you’ve given that child hope. And if you’ve given the child hope, then you’ve given that child a future.”

In essence, the role of a CASA is to represent the child’s best interests just as if you were a loving parent – in school matters, providing quality time in social and familial matters, and in court matters. Volunteers for the program are trained by court-supervised personnel.

Sullivan said that while the commitment is for two years, “we have CASAs who have been with the program for more than 25 years.”

“I would like to call on college students, retirees, and anyone in between — those who want to make a difference and have a little time to spare to attend one of the CASA information sessions and learn how they can really have a positive impact on a young life,” Sullivan said. “We carefully check the background of every applicant, above all to make sure they do not have a criminal record.”

But the problem is this. There are not enough CASAs, not by any means.

“We have about 3,400 kids in the child welfare program, and only about 360 CASAs,” Sullivan said.

Irrespective of the fact that not every child in the foster program requires a CASA, the math still is far from evening out. Sullivan said there are approximately 900 children now being served by CASAs.

“We need about 720 adult volunteers for the program,” he said, or double the present number. “Our goal is to hope to have at least 500 CASAs by the end of this year.”

Sullivan explained that in many cases with two or three siblings involved, a single CASA can handle the situation.

Sullivan has been involved with CASA for 18 years. The program was initiated in 1980 and presently includes three of the 21 Family Court judges in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Court, which includes all of Clark County. In addition to the judges, there are three juvenile hearing masters who serve under the imprimatur of the Family Court.

One of the hearing masters, David Gibson Jr., put the situation in perspective by explaining the importance of the CASA to either the judge or hearing master. Gibson said that decisions vital to the best interest of a child “are often only as good as the information upon which they are based. No amount of experience and expertise can most adequately serve a child’s best interest if the facts that inform it are incomplete.”

He added that the role of the CASA, “particularly in a foster care situation, is crucial to giving the bench the complete picture.”

Presiding Family Court Judge Charles Hoskin also addressed the need for volunteers: “Each time we swear in new CASA volunteers, we are grateful that they are willing to speak up for abused and neglected children.”

Call the CASA program Las Vegas office at 702-455-4306.

Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. His most recent novel, “Double Play,” is now available. Contact him at hjaffe@cox.net.