SACRAMENTO — One group taking part in Thursday’s Big Day of Giving is CASA Sacramento , an organization that serves foster care youth with dedicated volunteers who are trained to advocate for them in the court system.
Children in foster care are some of the most vulnerable people in our community. So, for them, having a complete stranger in their corner can seem odd.
“It’s hard for them to understand, why is there this person here who’s not my family, who doesn’t know me, doesn’t get paid and they care,” said CASA Sacramento volunteer Jackie Simon.
Simon has been a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer for 12 years.
Volunteers with CASA are appointed by a judge and work with foster youth one-on-one.
They often spend quality time with them, like going to a movie, shopping, or just hanging out. But the main job of a CASA is to champion for foster youth in court.
“So every six months we have hearings and at those hearings, we as CASAs write a report and we’re assigned to cover certain topics including every contact we’ve had with that youth or for that youth,” Simon said.