There is a desperate call for volunteer help in the suburbs, as CASA Kane County seeks out "CASAs," or court appointed special advocates.
"I feel a shared sense of purpose and meaning, and that’s very satisfying," said volunteer, Ellen Ljung.
Ljung is a retired educator and has been volunteering with CASA for three years.
"We can change a child’s story, and it is incredibly rewarding when that happens," she said.
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Volunteers act as child advocates. They are trained and supervised, then a judge appoints them to cases where they work in the best interest of children in abuse, neglect, and probate court.
"Parents have attorneys, DCFS is there for the whole family, we’re only there for the kids. Our job is to make sure we know what’s going on with them, and to inform the court of what we see," said Ljung. "Our reports have impacts on the judge’s decision."
The need for CASAs is growing fast. Cases more than doubled over the past five years, from just over 300 in 2019 to nearly 700 in 2023.
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There are now just over 200 volunteers serving more than 500 children.
"We saw post-pandemic, a lot of domestic violence and substance use. Children were back in school, so it was being reported," said Laura Sanders, the director of advocate supervision for CASA Kane County.
Sanders says some volunteers left during the pandemic, but the need continues to grow.
"Our volunteers are our boots on the ground. They are visiting children in foster homes every single month to make sure children are safe and receiving the services many of them so desperately need," said Sanders.
Volunteers need to be 21 or older and able to spend on average 5-15 hours a month advocating for a child. The average case length is three years, according to the organization.
