Giving Back: Volunteers drive youth advocate help

Published 12:11 am Wednesday, January 25, 2017

LAPLACE — There are a lot of perks that come with turning 21.

For Savannah Vicknair, one of the best was being able to volunteer to be a Child Advocacy Services volunteer in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Vicknair, a Southeastern Louisiana University student who, until recently, called LaPlace her home, said she wanted to volunteer as soon as she could.

“You have to be 21 to be a volunteer, so as soon as I turned 21, I signed up,” said Vicknair, who is studying to be a social worker.

“I think working with children has always been my primary goal, probably since I was a child. Just having that experience and getting to finally be out in the real world and do it has been the most important thing to me. I have found it very rewarding.”

A CASA volunteer is a court-appointed advocate for abused and neglected children in the foster care system. They represent the child in court decisions to help determine what is in their best interests.

After going through a six-week training program, Vicknair has been serving as a CASA volunteer for about a year. She currently is working two cases with four children assigned to her.

She makes regular home visits, looks into programs available for the families and makes recommendations to the courts, who make the final decisions.

Vicknair said, in her cases, her recommendations have been taken seriously.

“You’re advocating in the best interests of the children,” she said. “If you feel it would be in the best interests of the children to reunite with their parents, that’s what you recommend. The goal you’re trying to work for is permanency for the child. The hard part is wanting the best for the child, but unfortunately, the children sometimes don’t have many options.”

Vicknair said it can be heartbreaking work.

“A lot of people say, ‘oh it must be so depressing,’” Vicknair said. “It is, but to me it would be more depressing if I had not been able to do anything. It shows you how important it is.”

Kristy Rice, who serves as the CASA recruiter for the River Parishes, said there is a definite need for volunteers. As of now there are 10 volunteers serving St. John Parish.

“It fluctuates, but we can have up to 20 kids at a time waiting for an advocate,” Rice said. “The way it works is, when we’re appointed by the court, we have to turn around and find a volunteer to advocate for the child.”

There is no prerequisite for volunteers other than the age minimum of 21. Volunteers must undergo a thorough background check and must attend a 30-hour training program.

“We train our volunteers so they are prepared,” Rice said. “They are not alone. A supervisor is assigned to them to oversee them the whole time.”

Vicknair said she learned during training that she could choose the cases she wanted.

“That was something I didn’t know before I started CASA, that you actually get to tell them what you do want and what you don’t want,” she said. “If there’s a population or a situation you’re uncomfortable with, you do get to pick your case.

They never force you into taking a specific family or case.”

CASA training for St. John the Baptist Parish volunteers begins at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Child Advocacy Services office, 2840 W. Airline Highway, Suite G in LaPlace.

Those interested are asked to call Krisy Rice at 225-647-2005 or email krice@childadv.net to sign up for the training or ask questions.

No special skills are required, but a CASA volunteer must make a sincere commitment because the duties are extremely important.

To learn more about Child Advocacy Services’ CASA program, visit childadv.net.