April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, acknowledging the tens of thousands of American children suffering from abuse and neglect. These children often enter the Dependency Court, a closed, confidential system that protects the privacy of youth experiencing familial abuse or neglect.
But if you could sit in court for a child’s hearing, you’d see a lot of people in the room. At the center of it all is the child, sometimes a very young child, sitting nervously at a table in front of the judge.
The room is crowded, including the judge up above on the bench, and all the court personnel. You might also see the child’s assigned lawyer as well as one or both parents, a lawyer representing each parent, a social worker, a lawyer representing the child welfare agency, other relatives, and foster parents.
Children removed from their homes because of neglect or abuse are wards of the state. They have done nothing wrong. For their own safety, these children are taken away from caregivers, but also taken from their homes, pets, toys, and all things familiar.
At the hearing, there is a very special person in the courtroom who is there solely to represent that child’s best interests — the CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer.
Voices for Children is the local, nonprofit CASA program for San Diego County. We recruit, train, and support CASAs to provide one-on-one volunteer advocacy to children. This year alone, Voices for Children will provide advocacy for more than 1,600 children and support over 900 volunteers in San Diego County.
CASAs talk to teachers, social workers, caregivers, doctors, and, most importantly, the children themselves. A CASA learns what that child needs — what’s truly in the child’s best interest. They ask: “What would make you feel safe and secure? How do you feel about your foster family? What is going on with you in school? What do you need?”
Sometimes a CASA’s “job” means being a proud audience member for a child’s school play or baseball game, or getting them a reading tutor, or making sure they see a doctor or dentist. The CASA genuinely cares about the child, and the child knows it.
When a child is assigned a CASA, they gain a mentor and advocate to set them on a better path, avoiding the costly tragedies of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration that so many young people face when they age out of the foster care system. The CASA makes sure the child’s voice is heard — in court, in school, and in the community.
Research shows that children paired with CASAs are more likely to find safe, permanent homes, succeed in school, have better medical outcomes, and are half as likely to re-enter foster care. No special training is needed — just a wish to help a vulnerable child. To learn more, go to speakupnow.org.
Although we’re a private, nonprofit organization, Voices for Children is providing quasi-governmental services by offering vital support at no cost to our county’s court and social workers. But private funding is not enough, and we need support from the state to help us reach children in need. CASA programs make the foster care system better and save local and state governments millions of dollars. For so many reasons, an investment in CASA programs is a wise, cost-efficient investment.
The state Legislature is considering a 2025-2026 budget request from California CASA that would have an enormous benefit to our own program here in San Diego County. This funding will allow us to recruit and train new volunteers to walk alongside children in foster care, while accessing the support we need to do this work each day.
We urge you to reach out to your representative and ask for their support. You can find out who your representative is at: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov. Join Voices for Children in helping thousands of children find their voice.
Jessica Muñoz is the president and CEO of Voices for Children. Previously she served as executive director of the organization’s Riverside County program. Muñoz is an attorney and practiced for more than seven years, including as a trial attorney in juvenile dependency courts in both Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. She is a resident of Fallbrook.
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