This was the first week of class for CASA. The first one, since it included the housekeeping rules and introductions, was 4 hours, then Thursday was 3.5 hours. Both nights were full of information. I signed a confidentiality pledge, so the things I found out about specific cases and about my classmates and teachers, etc., are off-limits, but there's still a lot of information I can share. There are 13 students (the 14th has not appeared) and my own emotions ran the gamut. The first night I left there convinced there was no way in the world I could do this. There's so much to learn and think about and consider and do. Then Thursday night my reaction was "somewhere there's a child being hurt and I must stop it Right Now!"

Tuesday:
Assessment and Placement. In 1995 3.1 million children were reported abused in the U.S. The numbers are up because of substance abuse and also more reports are being made. 55% of these are neglect, 26% physical abuse, 10% sexual abuse, 3% emotional abuse, and 7% other. (I don't even want to think about "other.") Every day there are 500,000 children in foster care. In 1985 there were 147,000 foster families available for 256,000 kids. It's gotten worse, however. 1994 there were 125,000 families for 450,000 kids.

Children get labelled by some professional and sometimes the labels stick even though they don't fit. One job of a CASA is to get to know the child, not the label.

There are an average of 11 phone calls to CPS before a child is removed from the home. There are 36,000 calls a year in Sacramento. If a child is placed in protective custody he or she is taken to the Children's Receiving Home or emergency foster placement. (The CRH has 70 beds, though a builder's charity is adding a wing for more.)
In 14 days there is a Jurisdictional/Dispositional hearing. Then there is another hearing in 6 months, and subsequent ones every 6 months. The parents of children under 3, the more adoptable ones, have 6 months to straighten out their act, with a 6 month extension possible if they are, for instance, making progress kicking drugs or showing some effort to improve the home. Over 3 years old, it's 12 months which can be extended to 18 months. If the child is not reunited with the family, the choices in order of preference are:

1. Adoption
2. Guardianship
3. Long Term Placement (where most kids end up.)

So far, in 7 years, 1000 children have been helped by CASA. Each child has had their childhood taken away from them, and it's the CASA advocate's job to give it back. (See why I was so overwhelmed?) The CASA children are the most severe cases. 75% of them involve sexual abuse. Different types of placement are:

1. Kinship care (like an aunt or grandparent.)
2. The Children's Receiving Home. They get 250 new petitions a month, which is 300-400 chilren a month. 65% of new cases go here or are placed in emergency foster care. They get the high profile cases, but sick ("medically fragile") children don't go here.
3. County Foster Care, through The Department. (of Health and Human Services.) They pay $582/child/month or more. One thing I learned this night was that childcare is a Big Bucks Industry.
4. Foster Family Agencies. There's more money in this and usually the foster parents have had more training. They still report to the county social worker. They are supposed to have a fostering report monthly while in county care it's once a year. (Social workers have 90 to120 cases.) Many foster homes are out of this county.
5. Group homes. These are for more difficult children. They lack the ability to provide the health and safety the children need. Understaffed and underpaid, which is odd considering the money that they get per child. (It reminds me of nursing homes, in fact. People farming seems really lucrative, as long as you aren't the labor at the bottom rung.) Some workers aren't even fingerprinted, and yes, it is the law. Many children are labelled as more difficult but really don't belong in this type of home. The most important thing a CASA does is provide consistency. The child may be struggling with the point system at a home, but discipline/ punishment can never be not to see their CASA advocate. These homes have 6 to 15 beds, and the children are generally 9 to 18. They get $3100/child/month. For this, they are supposed to provide excellent meals and trips to Disneyland and that sort of thing, and apparently many are Dotheboys Hall. Again, it's the CASA's job to check on this.
6. Residential Care Facility. This is 16 to 150 beds, like the Sacramento Children's Home. These provide a higher level of care, usually including a school and on-site counselling.
7. Physical/Social Treatment Facility, like Heritage Oaks or the Sacramento Mental Health Center. These are children with severe mental health problems.
8. Sacramento Juvenile Hall. Usually a CASA can prevent this end-of-the-line scenario. If the child becomes a delinquent, though, the CASA is pulled off, as it's too dangerous. I was remembering when I was with Mustard Seed and wore a panic button on the job. I never felt endangered, though. We were helping their children, and even if the parents were druggies or prostitutes, they appreciated our time. Another time there was a gangland funeral from the motel we were in. I didn't worry, because I knew for sure there were cops all over the place, and I would likely have been in more danger at the grocery store. Still, I'm glad the agency will watch out for us.

The most important rule is: Don't piss off the placement providers!

A CASA's role in placement: "to the best of your ability as much as possible work with the placement provider to ensure/maintain a healthy/safe/consistent environment."

• Know the expectations of the provider
• Never compromise your safety. (If a child decides to act out at the mall, call 911 but don't touch the child.
• Review the records (facility, medical, incident reports.)
• Passport development (mandatory.) This is, I think, the individual child's record and recommendations.
• Ensure the client's rights. Check the daily logs at a group home and ask about bruises or odd activity.
• NEVER no NEVER take the CASA child home.

Then we started a video about three foster children, which we finished on Thursday. I found that the one I most got emotionally vested in was the youngest, about 10, though I could relate to all three boys. I believe on the form I had said I would prefer a younger child, not a teen.

I got home all full of thoughts and worries, and Rich asked one question, "How was it?". He allowed me to say "fine" and then he spent the next half-hour telling me about the argument with the school over Scouts. Finally, after griping to my diary, I griped to him, and told him that since I'd listed him as my support, he darn well better support me, and LISTEN, dammit!

Thursday:
Sexual abuse. The meeting started with three questions: 1. Who am I? 2. List three personal things you wish to share with the class. 3. Share a secret. Then we had the introduction exercise where we got a partner and traded answers, then introduced the partner to the class. (I've done this exercise before in teaching classes.) I had misplaced my answer sheet in the melee that resulted from moving all the furniture to the walls, so I had to find them, and then I ended up in the threesome partnership, so we didn't really have time to get to know each other.

We did a lot of role-playing with dolls. There were a lot of stuffed animals around, but I didn't have one, and needed to be hugging one after a number of the role-plays. Very intense.
We learned some of the red-flags that might signal sexual abuse. I had already read a Newsweek article on Jon-Benet and wondered why she was still (or again?) wetting the bed every night. A number of my classmates were surprised at some of the abuse stories, but I must read too many mysteries and on-line journals. Also, when my kids were younger, there were some high-profile cases in the newspaper, and some other cases involving people we knew.
A CASA does not initiate contact, but lets the child decide. However, if the child is behaving inappropriately, the CASA establishes boundaries and is a role model. Trust your gut instincts. If it feels funny, it probably is.

The evening finished by joining hands in a circle and looking the person on the left in the eye and saying "Take my hand, because you are important to me." Very effective. It's taken me 4 days to actually read the handouts.
Ane this time Rich was ready to listen, which helps.

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Week One of the Monarchy (I know what I said, but a lot's going on!):
A Nickelodeon survey had 52% of the kids favoring the President leaving the office. As our morning-drive host says: "Kids are simplistic. They think when you tell them lying is wrong, you mean for everybody."
Clinton might be cited for contempt of court.
When he visited New Hampshire, he was told "Don't Come Back, Kid" but he's Bill Clinton, and he can get away with anything.
On Friday, at the same time the Jane Doe #5 stuff was finally hitting the mainstream press, he said there were no more delays in the Milosevich ultimatums. However, there it is, it looks just like last fall when we meant it, this is your last chance, no we really mean it this time, this is your very last chance, we're through playing games now, this is your last chance, no, really, this is it, behave or we'll have to get serious, this is the last chance. Now, there may be a reason to have extended the deadline this time, but Sam Donaldson said what many of us were thinking, who can believe a word Clinton says? George Will's column today was about our foreign policy.
And Filegate is still being investigated. Stephanopolis had another deposition on the topic. Paul Greenberg, of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, sums it up: " Purely politically, this administration might best be described as moderate Republican but without the class. And of course that has made all the difference, for style is the last and highest attainment of a leader."
Your King William is no leader. But then, I happen to believe rapists belong in jail.

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Meanwhile, I weigh the same, walked 6.85 miles last week, and did effall else.