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August 7, 2008, 2:22 pm PDT
CASA is...
Quote From: jprheddAs a retired CPS investigator, who unfortunately had those stacks of files to deal with, I cringed as did my fellow workers whenever a CASA person was court ordered to our case. Depending on the state, the primary mandate of most foster care agencies is to return the child to the home. CASA workers took this to mean "no matter what". They fought investigators tooth and nail to return the children to awful homes. I am sorry that the show is being snowed by these "mentors". A little more investigation would certainly reveal some absolutely stunning bad decisions on the part of these undereducated do gooders. I have retired for ten years and it still bothers me. I'm sorry, that in your state, CASA's were adamant about returning a child to the home they were removed from. In the state where I was a CASA we were told that we were to advocate for the best interest of the child, no matter what that might be. It was the state who said the first goal was reunification. The parents have a lawyer who does what THEY want, the child has a
lawyer who does what the CHILD wants, but the CASA is a neutral party
who does what's best for the child. Because a CASA is appointed by the judge and has more assessibilty to information than a case worker, our CPS workers actually wanted us to be involved. Granted, I would love to have "fixed" every home so the child could return, but if that was not the safest place then I would look for other more suitable situations. The CASA program can be a great thing for a child. I'm sorry your experience was a bad one for you and possibly the children you represented.
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