GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — CASA of Kent County is running a “phone a friend” campaign this month, looking for volunteers who want to be a consistent, trusted voice for children in the foster care system.
CASA Executive Director Stephanie Sheler said there were about 600 children in the community last year who experienced abuse and neglect to the extent that they had to be removed from their home and placed in foster care.
Grand Rapids foster parents continue giving after 40 years
“In this complicated system, this child welfare and judicial system, we look for volunteers who want to walk alongside these children and be their voice in the judicial system. So we recruit volunteers from the community, we train them and support them while they’re walking alongside a child or a sibling group,” she explained.
Each volunteer is matched with one family. Volunteer Chad Kirk-Patrick said he’s been doing the work for about four years…