Isabel Shapiro and Tobias Scott

Voice Of Hope
It’s a hard-knock life for foster kids. Because of unsafe living situations — usually neglect or abuse — they are uprooted from everything that’s familiar: home, parents, the family dog. Bounced between temporary placements, they often get lost in the backed-up juvenile court system. And they’re not to blame for any of it.

It’s no wonder that these children are at a much higher risk for lifetimes of delinquency and despair.

"The children in foster care tell me that the worst day of their lives was the day they were taken from their homes," says Sharon Lawrence, president of Voices for Children in San Diego County.

Her organization belongs to the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association, which pairs trained volunteer advocates (nicknamed CASAs) with foster children who have particularly pressing needs — emotional or physical.

"A CASA gets to know everything about the children they work with," Lawrence explains. "They become experts. They know the doctors, the therapists, and the judges. They know the child’s social worker and attorney. Their primary job is to make recommendations on the child’s behalf. But a CASA also befriends and mentors the child."

While the average social worker in San Diego handles a caseload of 50 foster children, CASAs devote their efforts to a case or two at a time. They can make a profound difference in the lives of children who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

Tobias Scott is one of Voices for Children’s many success stories. The wheelchair-bound 19-year-old has muscular dystrophy. When he was just 12, his mother became too ill to care for him (she later passed away) and he was placed in the Polinsky Center, an emergency intake shelter where children typically stay about two weeks. He was there for two years.

It was during this time that Scott met his CASA, Isobel Shapiro.

A middle-aged mother of two, Shapiro speaks with a lilting Scottish accent and emanates warmth. The North County resident became involved with Voices for Children a decade ago, after reading an article about a similar program in the Los Angeles Times.

Shapiro’s eyes sparkle with affection as she recounts her early days with Scott, who listens attentively but isn’t much of a talker.

"Well, I can talk enough for the both of us, can’t I, Tobias?" teases Shapiro. Scott smiles shyly.

Shapiro and Scott developed a monthly ritual. They’d catch the bus from Kearny Mesa to downtown San Diego, where Scott would get his hair cut by an African-American barber. Then they’d spend the afternoon browsing for music and sports posters — Scott loves hip-hop and basketball — and really getting to know each other.

Together, they made some extraordinary changes in Scott’s life.

First, the persuasive Shapiro enrolled Scott in high school. Though he’d had little steady education in years, he thrived, discovering a love for computers and wheelchair racing. Then, Shapiro aided Scott in finding a permanent home — no easy feat. The duo looked at a number of options before deciding on his current residence, an in-home care center run by a friendly young family in Oceanside.

Last summer, Scott graduated from El Camino High School. He received two scholarships and now attends Palomar junior college. Someday, he hopes to go to USC and design video games.

It’s a bright outlook for a young person whose future once looked so bleak. And that’s really the point of the many CASA programs across the country.

Lawrence says that 402 CASAs will serve more than 900 San Diego children this year. She and her staff regularly review the files of the thousands of foster charges in the San Diego system.

"We pick kids with nobody," she explains. "And we get involved with their lives. We make sure they go to school and see their siblings. We make sure they have a life plan." Voices for Children offers 40 hours of initial training and ongoing professional supervision to its CASAs. The organization actively recruits new volunteers, and Lawrence emphasizes that a few hours a month can make a real difference.

Though much of the CASAs’ work involves phone calls and bureaucratic navigation, Lawrence points out that it’s also a lot of fun to hang out with the kids.

"I highly recommend it," says Shapiro, who has worked with several cases in addition to Scott. "You can truly change a child’s life. And you get so much back in return."
— AnnaMaria Stephens, photography by Vincent Knakal

Voices for Children

Year Founded: 1980

Overall Mission: Voices for Children, a nonprofit organization, endeavors to ensure that abused, neglected, and abandoned children who have become dependents of the San Diego County Court will have a safe and permanent home. Through it’s network of trained and educated volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), Voices for Children works with key agencies, legal counsel, and community resources to identify and protect the best interests of each child inside and outside of court.

Current Funding Objectives: Voices for Children’s 2007-08 budget is $2,565,196, of which less than $400,000 is funded by government sources or United Way.

Organization’s Biggest Challenge: Voices for Children’s ten-year vision to Serve Every Child calls for aggressive growth to provide advocates to 1,700 children by 2012 and double that number again by 2017. While funding this expansion is certainly a substantial challenge, finding and retaining the community volunteers to become CASAs is an even greater one.

Contact Information:
Voices for Children, Inc. (VFC)
2851 Meadow Lark Drive
San Diego, CA 92123
858/569-2019
www.voices4children.com