Every May we recognize Foster Care Awareness Month, and each year, thousands of children in California enter the foster care system, through no fault of their own. Year after year, we rally to raise awareness of the plight of foster children and the need to support them.
Our work sometimes feels like an uphill battle, yet we are energized when we hear stories about a teen who has graduated from high school, a child who has been adopted and has a new “forever family,” or about a child who is able to safely reunite with their parents. These successes happen when caring adults are in the child’s life, a supportive team that often includes a Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA volunteer. CASA of San Luis Obispo County trains community members to become CASA volunteers. We then match them with a foster child, and the volunteer works with other members of the “team”—the child’s social worker, teacher, therapist—to determine resources needed and ensure they are secured.
We ask our community: Don’t let this Foster Care Awareness Month go unnoticed. To help, go to slocasa.org.
— Teresa Rothe Tardiff – executive director, CASA of SLO County
This article appears in May 11-18, 2017.
