March 8, 2022
Since becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in May 2021, CASA of the Coastal Bend volunteer Shelia has been appointed to three cases with a total of five children who were placed in foster care due to child abuse and neglect. This Mission Moment is her experience on the first case she served on.
“This was my first CASA case and to say the least I was so afraid I’d not know what to do or how to do it. I decided that I would just jump in with both feet.
I set up a home visit with the mom. I literally had no idea what to expect. I rang the doorbell and showed my ID and the rest fell into place. The mother was in her mid twenties and had been in trouble since her early teens. As I looked at her my heart broke for her. The more we talked she began to open up more because she saw I wasn’t there to judge her but to provide help and encouragement for her. We talked about her past and also what she wanted for her future. She was a bright young woman with a lot of obstacles to get over. I assured her I’d be there for her, but she had to want it more than I wanted it for her. She had to do her part.
It took lots of visits, phone calls, texts along the way to build my relationship with her. As time went by she began to realize I was all I said was and she began to trust me and even listen to what I was telling her. I’ve worked in recovery for several years so I knew she needed to attend recovery meetings and I really felt rehab would help in her recovery. She was always giving me some excuse why she didn’t need to go. Finally 5 months after our first visit she agreed to check out a substance abuse treatment program. So we called a facility and I was not leaving until she got to talk to someone. After 30 minutes on hold we got a real person! She did an assessment on the phone and she checked herself in 2 months later because they had no beds until then.
She stayed in the program for 2 months. I called her the next week after she was discharged to tell her I had found a recovery meeting and would she go if I went with her. She agreed. I picked her up and we both went to the meeting. The group was very encouraging to her and even invited her to lunch. The next week she moved into an Oxford house; a self-run, self-supported recovery house. Shortly after that she got a full time job.
She has been clean and sober since entering the treatment program. She also attends meetings on her own now. She also has a sponsor. She makes weekly visits to the treatment facility she stayed at to encourage others that recovery is possible. She visits her children through zoom on the weekends. The foster mom says she is very creative with the visits and the kids look forward to seeing their mom.
What does the future look like for this family? Right now everyone is on the right track to a better life. For the children to continue to grow and thrive in their foster home until their mom has finished her responsibilities that are required by the court. My hope is reunification one day. Right now it’s one day at a time.”
– Sheila, CASA of the Coastal Bend Advocate
To learn how you can make a difference as a CASA volunteer for Coastal Bend youth in foster care, attend an upcoming 45 minute Virtual CASA Info Session held every Wednesday at 12pm via Zoom: https://bit.ly/2JAld0E
