Why Every Child Needs to Someone to Speak Up by Sara Hockensmith
Showing Up Matters
Last month we discussed the belief that every child has a voice and should be heard. You might be asking yourself, but why does CASA have to work so hard to make sure a child’s voice is heard?
When children enter the child welfare system, they often lose more than just their home. They can lose their sense of stability, their identity and their voice. Decisions about their lives are made by adults they’ve just met, in systems they don’t understand, with very little input from a very important person: The child.
That’s where CASA steps in with one simple, powerful belief: Showing up changes everything.
CASA Volunteers are everyday community members appointed by a judge to advocate for our youth in care. They are not foster parents or attorneys, they are consistent adults showing up week after week for the children in care and making sure the child’s voice is heard and their needs are met.
And sometimes, that consistency can change everything.
Take Susie*, a dedicated CASA Volunteer who exemplifies what it means to show up. Susie’s CASA kid, an older teen, had medical needs that needed to be addressed. Susie helped her youth get scheduled with providers, but the offices were all across the region. Logistics and transportation were a challenge and prevented the youth from attending their appointments. Susie stepped up and (after taking the Transportation training and being approved to drive) declared she would take her youth to the appointments.
Susie didn’t hesitate. She spent the entire day driving the youth throughout the region to doctor’s offices, over 500 miles of driving and more than 12 hours in the car. She spent the day with her youth, making sure her medical needs were met, ensuring the youth had all the information they needed and just talking.
At the end of this exhausting day, Susie treated the youth to a simple burger. As they sat eating together, the youth noted to Susie, “This was the best day ever.”
Not because of the doctor’s appointment. Not because of the burger. But because someone showed up just for them.
The power of just one person.
In a system often overwhelmed by paperwork, timelines and transitions, it can be easy to underestimate the impact of presence. This is what CASA is all about. It’s not grand gestures or big events. It’s presence. It’s showing up, consistently, and saying with your actions: You matter. I see you. I’m here.
CASAs like Susie bring consistency, advocacy and care into a child’s life. They visit regularly, talk with teachers and caregivers, attend court hearings and build relationships week after week by being there for their youth. Sometimes that means just being there to listen. Sometimes, it’s asking “What do you need?” when no one else has.
Children with CASA Advocates are more likely to:
- Receive essential services
- Perform better in school
- Find safe, permanent homes through either reunification, guardianship or adoption
- Experience fewer placement disruptions
Why? Because someone is advocating for them.
Be the difference.
There are still children in our community waiting for someone to show up for them, someone to speak up, someone to believe in them.
You can be that person.
👉 Volunteer: Becoming a CASA Volunteer means stepping into a child’s life at one of their most vulnerable moments and offering steady support, week after week.
👉 Give: Your donation helps us recruit, train, and support advocates like Susie, ensuring that every child has someone in their corner.
Ready to take the next step? You can sign up for an upcoming info session—available both in person and via Zoom here.
If you’d like to support our mission in other ways, such as donating toward Advocate training or child-focused resources, please contact Bea at bea@casamchenrycounty.org
*Name changed for privacy.