Voices for Children seeks volunteers to advocate for Riverside County youth living in foster care

SAN DIEGO – Community members can make a life-changing impact on a child by participating in Voices for Children’s inaugural “Your Voice, Their Future” volunteer recruitment campaign. The campaign, taking place through May 1 for National Foster Care Awareness Month, aims to recruit new CASAs to serve 100 local youth in foster care currently on Voices for Children’s waitlist who are in immediate need of a CASA volunteer.

This year, an estimated 4,000 children will spend time in foster care in Riverside County after experiencing abuse or neglect. They are among the most vulnerable members of our community. Once they enter the dependency system, their world includes court hearings, social workers, attorneys, new homes and schools. They need someone to step up and speak up for them during what can be a scary and challenging time.

Founded in 1980, Voices for Children transforms the lives of children in foster care by providing them with Court Appointed Special Advocates. These community volunteers – trained and supported by Voices for Children – advocate for youth in court, school, medical settings and more to ensure their needs are met. The organization, which serves both Riverside and San Diego Counties, is issuing a call for these special volunteers who often become the most consistent adult in the life of a child in foster care.

Members of the public are encouraged to learn more and take action for local children in foster care by becoming a volunteer or recommending a friend to become a CASA. Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers are critically needed to speak for children in court. Learn more about the requirements to become a CASA volunteer by signing up for an information session at https:// www.speakupnow.org/volunteer/.

To recommend someone, fill out the short form at http:// speakupnow.org/recommend.

Founded in 1980, Voices for Children transforms the lives of abused, neglected, and abandoned children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside Counties by providing them with trained, volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates. CASA volunteers advocate for a child or sibling group in foster care in court, school, and the community to ensure their needs are met. VFC believes every child deserves a safe and permanent home and strives to provide a CASA volunteer to every child in the foster care system who needs one. Last year, VFC CASAs and staff served more than 3,400 children in foster care across San

Voices for Children provides foster youth with Court Appointed Special Advocates that are trained to advocate for youth in court, school, medical settings and more to ensure their needs are being met.

Valley News/Courtesy photo

Diego and Riverside Counties. For more information, visit http:// www.speakupnow.org.

Submitted by Voices for Children.

California prison inmates to get some Medicaid care

Seitz

Amanda

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government will allow Medicaid dollars to treat some people in prisons, jails or juvenile detention centers for the first time ever, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday, Jan. 26. CMS will allow California inmates to access limited services, including substance use treatment and mental health diagnoses, 90 days before being released. Since Medicaid was established, federal law has prohibited Medicaid money from being used for people who are in custody, with inmates

Dustin Karnes agreed, saying that you can be super aggressive to the other team’s members for 80 minutes but then after the game, you can sit and have a friendly drink with the opposing team. He said good coordination, including passing, kicking and catching the ball are critical skills to be good at the sport. He played soccer in high school.

Brandon Karnes often joins his father for games with the Indigenous Warriors Rugby Club, which has players from all over the United States and Canada. The club combines its love for rugby with its love of its cultures. Every tournament they attend, the team participates in a cultural exchange that includes food, dancing and singing with the local Tribal Nations. Since players are from all over, this allows them to be in a community with one another.

“The club has played in New York, Mexico and Alaska in the past. We are traveling back to Alaska this June to compete,” Dustin Karnes said.

Rugby season in the Midwest takes place in the fall but at the having access to their health care coverage suspended.

The move will provide more stability for inmates and juvenile detainees as they exit institutions and reenter the outside world, CMS administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said.

She said the change will allow the state to “make unprecedented advancements for incarcerated individuals who have long been underserved.”

At least 10 other states have asked CMS for exemptions to use Medicaid dollars to treat inmates before they are being released. California could be a model for those states, especially since the program is new territory professional level, it begins in the spring and goes into the summer. There are currently 12 teams in Major League Rugby scattered across the country.

Brandon Karnes said, “I was recently drafted to the Houston SaberCats and played there during the preseason, but since then, I decided to return to school to get my degree since I was drafted a year early.” for Medicaid and is expected to be a massive undertaking, Vikki Wachino, who oversees the Health and Reentry Project, said.

He said he has always wanted to live in Texas so he would be happy to end up on any of the teams there. This past summer, he played in the Collegiate Rugby Shield, a post-season College Rugby AllStar competition held annually at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, featuring players from every conference.

“I also played for the U-20 national team in the summer of 2021, so becoming a USA Eagle is a dream of mine and being able to represent this country playing the sport I love will be a dream come true,” Brandon Karnes said. Teresa Silvas Seaton and Deatra Manzanilla, who live on the Soboba Indian Reservation, are related to Soboba Tribal members Brandon and Dustin Karnes.

California state officials said that they hope some inmates will begin accessing services through Medicaid starting in 2024. Incarcerated people will be screened and assessed for eligibility to access the state’s Medicaid program. If eligible, case workers will help them develop a care plan for reentry. It will take at least two years to roll out the program in all the state’s prisons, Jacey Cooper, the state’s Medicaid director, said.

Millions of people are expected to be affected, with California releasing nearly half a million inmates from state prisons or county jails every year and roughly 80% of those people qualifying for Medicaid. People who are leaving prison, jail or juvenile detention often don’t know where to start with getting medical care, Wachino said.

“Right now, there is an enormous barrier to care when people leave prison and jail,” Wachino said. “As you know, many times when they’re released, they’ve been left to fend for themselves, with very, very few supports.”