Volunteer Experience

Jessica Tychsen

CASA Class,  Fall 2004

When I moved into my own apartment after graduation from Boston College, I found one very cost efficient way to decorate.  Adorning my aging walls is a beautiful collection of colorful and imaginative artwork, all of it signed (although not always legibly) by the original artists. While some might argue that Crayola and construction paper are not preferable to oil paints and canvas, to me, their value is priceless.  Their craftsmanship serves as a constant reminder of all the children who have so delightfully touched my life since I started volunteering with the Boston CASA Program.

There is no denying that I harbored huge hesitations about working directly with something so gruesome and unthinkable as child abuse and the persons who inflict it. My only experience with children was through a babysitting job I had with a very wealthy family during my time in college. It made me angry that anyone would even think of hurting a child, and I believe this anger is what fueled my desire to apply to the program.  After a couple months of training, I received my first appointment involving an abused baby.  As I read through the case history, and all that this baby and his older sister had been through, I was infuriated.  When I got to the section on the parent's history, however, my fury subsided and was replaced by sympathy. These parents had both been severely abused and neglected as well. The more experience I had with CASA, the more I realized that most of these cases involve a vicious cycle where the abusers were abused themselves.

Through CASA, I saw first hand the dilapidated homes these children were ushered in and out of after each court date. I had lengthy discussions with their doctors, teachers, and therapists. On court dates, I presented reports and arguments to the judge, along with a recommendation as to the best placement for the child/children involved. Having thoroughly explored every crevice of the case, I was able to report important details that may have been overlooked.

In my most recent case, I worked with a seven-year-old girl named ‘Jody’ who had a long history of physical and sexual abuse.  I accompanied her to school one morning from the substance abuse recovery residence her mother was in.  When we walked into the bustling first grade classroom, ‘Jody’ introduced me as her Guardian Ad Litem.  A few minutes later, a young boy whose face was sprinkled with freckles tapped me on the arm.  Very matter-of-factly he asked, "Where are your wings?"  With a confused smile I responded, "Excuse me?"  "Well if you're a guardian angel, then where are your wings?" he stammered.  It became clear to me at that point that children, despite their various backgrounds, still retain the hope and innocence that keeps them optimistically believing in presences like guardian angels.

There were tears of joy in the courtroom of the Boston Juvenile Court on the day that Sarah regained custody of her two young daughters who, for nearly two years, had been residing in foster care. It was Sarah’s troubled background of substance abuse that initially led to the summons that required her to appear in Court where, for reasons of substantiated neglect, she lost custody of her children. Expeditiously removed from their mother’s squalid apartment by the Department of Social Services, the tearful girls were placed in foster homes. Now two years later, the young mother, who had availed herself of a variety of medical, psychological, and social services offered to her by DSS, was deemed ready to care for her children and was joyfully reunited with them.

As the CASA volunteer assigned to this case, that day in court marked the satisfying end to time and energy well spent: conducting home visits, studying case and health records, monitoring the girls’ progress in school and day care, advocating for appropriate services to meet their complex educational, emotional and social needs, negotiating the tangled web of services provided by state agencies, meeting with attorneys and DSS case workers, attending court hearings and writing reports for consideration by the presiding judge. And never forgetting that it is the CASA’s responsibility to be guided at all times by “the best interests” of the children, serving always as their voice and advocate.

I have been a CASA volunteer for many years, and while this is not a job for the faint-hearted, it has been an enormously satisfying journey. Each case presents a unique set of challenges and circumstances, and while outcomes have not all been as favorable as was Sarah’s, there is ample opportunity within each case for the committed CASA to help improve the quality of life of the abused and neglected children involved. Most importantly, my experience with the CASA program has convinced me that the Court benefits greatly from CASA’s objective reporting and carefully considered recommendations when disposing of the overwhelming number of troubling cases involving these vulnerable children so deserving of a brighter future. I await assignment to my next case.