This short article by Laurel Ferris in Women’s Press makes clear what CASA Guardians do and why children need them.
From the article;
Children’s voices are not otherwise heard in court,
and that’s exactly why we volunteer as Guardians ad litem.
It’s a job that is necessary,
but our state now wants to move to an all-employee model.
Hennepin County has gone from over 400 active volunteers to just 30.
The attrition is due to the Minnesota program manager’s decision…
to suspend all recruitment and orientation training for new volunteer GALs.
I read the recent Star Tribune article about children who have died after being reunited with family members. I strongly believe volunteer GALs are crucial to the oversight needed to prevent these tragedies.
We have the time, the life skills, and the independence to challenge the systemic failures that lead to deaths. We are part of the solution.
The true cost of these changes falls on Minnesota’s most vulnerable.
Related resource: video shared by by KARA about the guardian ad litem issue
There are many forces at play on Child Protective Services today:
Parental rights, Racial disparities,
better tracking and reporting of
critical child outcomes based metrics in CPS
and the continued over-institutionalizing
of children in the system
(dehumanizing trends)
KARA reports on the issues of invisible children
This article submitted by Former CASA Guardian Ad Litem Mike Tikkanen
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All Adults Are the Protectors of All Children
INVISIBLECHILDREN – KARA (KIDS AT RISK ACTION
“What we do to our children, they will do to our society”
(Pliny the Elder, 2000 years ago)
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(They make a big difference in the lives of abused children)
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