CASA, no higher calling

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, but for a CASA (court appointed special advocate) April is just another month in a year full of heart wrenching work.

North Idaho CASA works within the five northern counties in Idaho and in 2016 they served 400 children from 223 different families.

A CASA is a volunteer who is a trained citizen that is appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of a child victim of abuse during court proceedings.

There was a 35.7 percent increase in the rate of CPS (Child Protective Services) response in Idaho from 2011 to 2015, ranking Idaho as having the fifth highest increase in rate.

During that time, CPS petitions have increased an average of 22 percent from 2011 to 2015.

A petition is when a child officially comes under the purview of the child protective act.

They are assigned a case number, a social worker, a casa advocate, and a hearing date.

In Shoshone County, according to Sheriff Mike Gunderson, there has been an increase in child abuse in the area, but there aren’t enough CASAs to serve them and the people who do want to help don’t necessarily know how.

“We have a big problem here in Shoshone County,” Gunderson said, “but we have a low number of child advocates. We have a kind community and people want to help, but they don’t know how.”

Sheriff Gunderson’s statements correlate with NI CASA’s biggest obstacle.

Staffing.

“Of the 400 children served, 14 of them were not fully served due to advocate shortages,” NI CASA CEO KJ Torgerson reported.

That number may not seem alarming, as it means that 96.5 percent of the kids that NI CASA is serving are being served properly.

That is a very good percentage.

But what about the other 3.5 percent?

Shoshone County current has less than five CASAs, but as Sheriff Gunderson said, there is a growing problem here in the county and more help is needed.

Jessica Cagle is one such volunteer in Shoshone County.

Cagle has been with CASA for 10 months, and in that time, she has worked on 4 different cases involving five total children- all of them under the age of three.

That is a mere fraction of the 35 total children from 23 different families that were helped in Shoshone County during 2016.

Cagle is aware that getting people involved on this level is difficult, not because they don’t care, but because they aren’t ready for the full emotional investment that comes with the job.

“It isn’t easy,” Cagle said. “I have spoken with my friends about doing it and all of them seem interested in it, but not fully on board and I tell them that this isn’t something you just kind of do, you either have to be completely invested in it or not at all.”

Being an advocate isn’t an easy venture no matter what the situation, but as the children get younger, the job gets even more difficult.

“Being a voice for these kids is tough, but it gets even harder when you deal with young kids who can’t tell you what is going on,” Cagle said.

But Cagle also sees that the lack of options in Shoshone County makes it hard for parents to change their circumstances, even when they are putting an effort forward to better themselves and their family’s situation.

“We are lacking support for recovering addicts which makes it hard to deal with parents who have grown accustomed being treated like lesser people or liars because that is how everyone treats them,” Cagle said.

The child’s belief that they may have caused the problem, or that they deserve the abuse they are taking are many of the disturbing hurdles that CASAs must overcome as they seek the truth on the situation that they have been assigned to.

Cagle knows that the overall goal of being a CASA is ensuring that the child is safe, but the best outcome is the safe reuniting of the child with their parents, something that Cagle saw during one of her cases this past year.

“I can’t go into details or specifics, but we were able to help a child and after seeing the help that the child got, the parents got the help they needed and we were able to reunite them with their family,” Cagle said.

During the NI CASA Ray of Hope Luncheon in Pinehurst last week, attendees were able to hear a testimony from Kelly, a 17-year old CASA kid who went into the legal custody of her grandparents in December of 2016, following a troubling period of abuse stemming from her step-father.

Kelly discussed how her CASA was able to give her a sense of confidence and self worth.

It doesn’t always end perfectly, but helping children is an experience that, according to Cagle, is “beyond rewarding.”

North Idaho CASA is always looking to train new people to become child advocates.

For more information please call Donna Wemple, with North Idaho CASA at (208) 667-9165 or email her at donna@northidahocasa.org.