I am extremely lucky to be interning with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Memphis and Shelby County (CASA) this semester. CASA is a program that trains volunteers in the community to represent abused and/or neglected children in court and stand up for their best interests. The non-profit organization began in Seattle, Washington in 1976. In 1982, CASA went national. CASA of Memphis and Shelby County was formed in 1986 and is now considered to be in the top 2% of the 950+ CASA programs nationwide. In Memphis alone, CASA volunteers have represented over 16,000 children since 1986. Sadly, there are many more cases that CASA could take on if we had more volunteers. As CASA grew, Congress passed the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, which allocated some government spending to go toward further expansion of CASA programs. More specific details about CASA’s formation and statistics regarding child abuse can be found on the website (http://www.memphiscasa.org) and is worth exploring.
The CASA office is located on the top floor of the Porter-Leath Building just off of North Parkway on Manassas. The CASA culture is very relaxed and the employees are quite social. Their casual dress and their open cubicles in part fuel this relaxed culture. Also, their board of directors is a small, close-knit group of individuals. Their Executive Director recently stepped down and that position has yet to be filled. Keisha Walker, the former director, made all of the major decisions. Now the advocacy coordinators and board members are coming together on issues until the Executive Director position is filled.
I completed forty-four hours of training before classes started and I learned all about CASA and how to be a successful volunteer. The training detailed much more than just legal jargon, Tennessee laws regarding child abuse, and how to write a court report. We studied child development, effective communication skills, building home assessments, how to recognize emotional, mental, physical, and psychological abnormalities, signs of abuse and neglect, and the importance of acknowledging and being aware of cultural and other types of diversity. We ventured out of the scope of political science and into other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, and psychology.
A big part of building a case is interviewing people in the child’s life- family members, neighbors, teachers, doctors, counselors, etc. By doing this, we are gathering as much information as possible to help us recommend what we think is best for the child. The biggest part of the investigation is all interactions and conversations with the child. As a CASA, I must be observant and attentive, noting body language and changes in mood.
My blog entries will be unique in the fact that, because of confidentiality purposes, I must withhold all details about my case. I have been sworn into Juvenile Court as a “friend of the court” and I have said an oath to one of the Magistrates. I swore I would “faithfully protect and promote the best interest of the children I am appointed to represent and preserve the confidentiality of any and all information received.” The only individuals with whom we can discuss the details of our case are our Advocacy Coordinators, who we meet with weekly and who guide and advise us as needed.
I know I will learn much about the workings of Juvenile Court. I know I will learn much more about myself as well. A motivating force for my applying to law school and later becoming an attorney is the idea of giving someone a voice in the courtroom that otherwise goes unheard. Children, in particular, are fought over often but hardly ever fought for. My ultimate goal is to represent individuals with disabilities; representing a child with CASA is granting me a taste of what it will be like later in my legal career.
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