With increased demand, CASA looks for volunteers to help kids as ‘eyes and ears of the court’

This piece is sponsored by Sioux Falls CASA.

In more than 50 years of volunteering, Ann Henkin points to her time as a court-appointed special advocate as her most impactful experience.

“The time I spent as a CASA volunteer proved to be some of the most memorable and worthwhile volunteer hours I’ve spent,” she said.

“And as a child and family therapist at that time, I clearly experienced and understood the need for advocacy for children who were abused and neglected and the important impact of CASA volunteers on these children and families in need.”

When Judge Robin Houwman, presiding judge for the Second Judicial Circuit, swears in CASA volunteers, she describes the role for them like this:

“You become the eyes and ears of the court,” she explains. “There isn’t anyone else in the case whose sole purpose is to look out for the best interest of the children other than the CASA volunteer and the court. That’s why it’s called a court-appointed special advocate.”

There are 79 active volunteers within Sioux Falls CASA, which just marked its 30-year anniversary of service to and within the Sioux Falls area.

CEO Stacey Tieszen was a CASA volunteer in the late 1990s and has been in her role since 2018.

“Children were once removed from their homes because of bedbugs or cockroaches or lack of food, and today it’s all those things plus neglectful or abusive parents because they are gone for days, actively using, having mental health struggles and also experiencing domestic violence,” she said.

“Child Protection Services is working hard not to remove kids, but the level of trauma by the time they are removed is more impactful in a negative way.”

Stacey Tieszen, center, and the Sioux Falls CASA team

The need for more volunteers is pressing now because “the bigger concern is the significant increase we’ve seen in the number of children assigned to the program,” Tieszen said. “And even more than that, it’s the serious trauma and hardships our families are experiencing.”

Anytime there’s a petition filed in court saying children in the home are subjected to  abuse and neglect and there’s potential removal of parental rights, a CASA volunteer can be assigned to the case, said attorney Meghan Roche, who has been on the board of directors for eight years.

“As a volunteer, you’re the voice of that child that’s in the process,” she said. “Through no fault of their own, the child’s family is involved in these proceedings, and we’re talking about taking away a parent’s rights.”

After volunteers complete training and are sworn in by the judge, they can look at petitions and pick a case. They’re able to see how many children are involved in a case as well as their ages and read the story of the family to ensure that they don’t have a personal conflict with the people involved.

Spending at least 10 hours on the case per month, which can include emailing and working on the court report, volunteers keep in regular contact with the children involved and often with foster families and other important people in their lives.

“You’ll work with an advocate supervisor on our team. We will have you come in to the office or meet you where it’s convenient to see how you’re doing and help as needed,” Tieszen said.

As Henkin discovered, “Sioux Falls CASA volunteers are trained to be informed and committed to their cases and to carefully, fairly and truthfully represent and advocate for each child,” she said.

Sioux Falls CASA recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

“Staff and volunteers know it takes an enormous amount of time to properly represent a CASA child in court, so it is affirming to know the judges overseeing our cases seriously consider and value our volunteer commitment, our findings and our detailed and lengthy case reports before making their decision.”

Judges seriously consider the volunteers’ reports.

“I pore over all of the evidence I see. I’m looking at everything, but the CASA volunteer’s report is usually something I look at last before I go into trial,” Houwman said. “I’ve gotten these pieces from everywhere else in the record, and the CASA volunteer sums everything up, puts everything together, and I get unique information from these reports that isn’t anywhere else.”

Because the volunteers are regularly meeting with the children, as well as foster families, teachers and child therapists, “they’re in essence looking at the picture that I’m looking at,” she said. “They’re trying to gather the information that’s most important to me, and I get to rely on that evidence and their impressions. I consider it heavily because they’re appointed specifically to be this window for me into this child’s life.”

When a case isn’t able to be assigned to a volunteer, that information is missing and can’t be considered by a judge. But the bigger missing piece is for the children themselves, Houwman said.

“I know some of these volunteers outside of my work in the courthouse, and I know how impactful they can be in the lives of children,” she said.

“I even had a case within the last year where the mother was also a child in an abuse and neglect case, and she had her own CASA volunteer when she was a kid. She commented during one of our hearings about how she really wanted her kids to have a CASA volunteer because it meant so much to her when she was going through it.”

CASA volunteers wear red capes in honor of Red Cape Month in April, raising funds and awareness.

Demand from the court is growing too. Through October, more than 557 active abuse or neglect petitions have been assigned to the CASA program, “and we still have two more months of the year to go. We do not have volunteers on half of those,” Tieszen said.

“The Sioux Falls CASA program still covers all the court hearings even if a volunteer is not assigned – every single staff that is an advocate supervisor goes to court, so we rotate, and we’re documenting and keeping current, so if we did have a volunteer available or a case is really in need, we will do that, but our office gets assigned every petition in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.”

Training for new CASA volunteers will be Jan. 23-24 and Feb. 6-7. It’s a total of 30 hours, so volunteers feel prepared and ready to tackle their first case.

An effective CASA volunteer should be someone who is compassionate and dependable, Houwman said.

“The last thing these kids need is someone who says they will show up and doesn’t,” she said. “And it needs to be someone who can do the work and manage the emotions that it’s going to bring up. It’s going to be one of the most rewarding things they do but also one of the most difficult ones too. But once you see a case through and the impact you can have on the lives of those kids, it can be one of the most powerful things that will happen in your life.”

Volunteers must be at least 21 or older and not have a criminal history considered dangerous to children, meaning they must pass a criminal background check.

“We are brutally honest about what you’re going to encounter but also about the positive impact of how this shapes people,” Tieszen said.

You don’t need lived experience or specialized training to volunteer – but you do need to listen, be objective and be motivated to help kids find a better future.

“The foundation of improving Sioux Falls as a community is families and improving futures and lives of kids stuck in cycles – whether it’s poverty or addiction or mental health issues,” Roche said. “And if we can break those cycles and turn it around and start at the foundation, our business community is better, our schools are better, our families are better.”

To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer, start online here, or email [email protected].