Views from the Shore
By Brian Cahill
Every year, Shore Medical Center hosts a series of events and activities to celebrate National Hospital Week. One of the events we host is called “Deal Day,” at which we invite local businesses and organizations to set up a table in our meeting room and showcase their services to the hospital staff. We’ve been fortunate to have had participation from local banks, gyms, restaurants, and of course everyone’s favorite, “Johnson’s Popcorn,” at Deal Day.
When searching for participants this year, I received a call from CASA to see if they could attend. We’ve never had them at Deal Day before so I called to talk with them and learn about what they do. After learning about their incredible work, I not only invited them to Deal Day, but I decided to dedicate this column to them so you can learn about their organization and ways in which you can get involved and help children in foster care.
CASA is a nonprofit organization and the acronym stands for “Court Appointed Special Advocates” for children. They have an office located on Shore Road in Somers Point, actually not that far from the hospital. Brad Zabelski, Outreach and Recruitment Manager for CASA, explained to me that his organization’s vision is to serve all children living in the foster system in Atlantic, Cape May and Camden Counties by providing the best trained volunteer advocates to ensure these children will enjoy a safe and permanent home as quickly as possible. CASA for children of Atlantic, Cape May and Camden counties is a member of the National CASA/GAL Association, a network of neatly 1,000 community-based programs around the country that recruit, train and coach citizen-volunteers who advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities.
Brad told me that there are currently approximately 200 volunteers helping more than 400 children in foster care. This is not enough, and CASA is looking for more volunteers to help make a difference in the lives of these children. So, I asked Brad what’s the role of a volunteer and what’s the process to become one. He explained to me that the volunteer talks with and listens (he emphasized listening) to the child and all those involved in the child’s life, such as parents, resource parents, teachers, caseworkers, etc. to gather information which helps the judge make informed decisions about the child in care. The CASA volunteer advocate has the opportunity and the court ordered authority to reach out to all of these people to achieve an overview of the child’s life and determine what needs they may have.
For example, a child could be having difficulty in math. The volunteer advocate learns from talking and listening to the child and others, such as their teacher, that the struggle is because of too many classes were missed prior to the child having the stability of foster care. The judge can then order that the child receives a tutor.
If you would like to become an advocate, your journey will begin with an information session, an interview and a background check/fingerprinting. Once cleared, you will complete 35 hours of training, and then participate in a graduation ceremony which includes a swearing-in with a judge. To apply, visit CASAacc.org.
Brian Cahill is the Director of Marketing for Shore Medical Center and Shore Physicians Group. He is also on the Board of the Somers Point Business Association and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Stockton University.
