Michigan Parent Winter 2022-23

CASA Provides a Voice for Foster Children

written by Elyse Apel

Since 2017, the Hillsdale Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program has more than doubled the number of local children it is serving. “In a perfect world, every child in foster care would have a CASA volunteer,” says Heather Upton, executive director of Hillsdale CASA Inc. “We hope that one day we have that.”

CASA was first started in the 1970s when a Seattle judge decided to put together a group focused on advocating for the child’s best interest in legal cases. “He started the CASA program by just asking volunteers to see if anyone would be interested in getting to know these kids and advocating for them in court,” Heather explains. CASA is now a national organization with programs in every state. There are 27 programs in cities around Michigan.

The Hillsdale CASA program was started in 2014. Michelle A. Bianchi was running for a spot as a judge on the Hillsdale County Probate Court and made it a part of her platform to bring CASA to Hillsdale. “She said that if she won the nomination, she would implement this program and she did. She has been a huge supporter of it,” Heather explains.

Judge Bianchi is still involved in family court, so she has a lot of contact with Hillsdale’s CASA and Heather. “Heather is an amazing woman. Her heart and soul are committed to making sure as many children as possible on the abuse and neglect docket are represented in court by the independent voice of a CASA volunteer,” says Judge Bianchi.

Heather says that a local judge’s support is critical for the success of CASA programs. “One thing I’ve noticed about CASA programs is if the judge isn’t supportive, then you don’t have a program.”

The kids that CASA is assigned to help are in the county’s foster care system. A judge, a caseworker, or even foster parents can request a CASA volunteer be assigned a specific case. “The biggest service we offer is consistency,” Heather says. “It is an ever-changing world for a child once they are removed from their home.”

When CASA is assigned a case, they stay on it until it closes. Before COVID-19, that process could take over a year. Now, with the backlog of cases, the process sometimes takes upwards of two years. Judge Michelle explains that Heather’s work during the pandemic was crucial to keeping CASA running.

“During the pandemic when so many people were crippled in performing their jobs, Heather found a way to continue to recruit, educate, and make sure that the children of Hillsdale County were still connecting with, and were being represented in court by, their court appointed special advocates,” she says.

Each CASA volunteer is assigned only one family or sibling group at a time. Once a week, they meet with the child or children they are assigned. “They offer consistency by coming back every week,” Heather says. “If there’s anything that the child wants the judge to know, the CASA volunteer can provide a written court report to the judge speaking on the child’s behalf.”

Sharon Turnbull has been a board member of the Hillsdale CASA since 2018 and explains that the work CASA does is critical. “CASA is important to foster children because their voices often go unheard. The CASA volunteers make sure those voices get recognized,” Turnbull says.

Heather was hired in 2017 as the volunteer coordinator, and since then she has become the executive director. At the time Heather was first hired, the Hillsdale CASA had nine volunteers serving 18 local children. Since then, it has only grown. Hillsdale CASA now has 25 volunteers serving 42 children. She says the community has been crucial in that growth.

“I love this community. They’ve been just so supportive of our endeavors, both with advocating for these kids and financially,” she says. “I’m the only employee that we have and, since we are a nonprofit, we run completely off of grants and donations.”

In 2021, Heather says they lost some of their funding, but the community has rallied around to help them continue running. “We lost a pretty big federal grant last year, and everybody came together with fundraising and things like that to help us out,” she says.

CASA volunteers must complete 30 hours of training, which allows Heather time to get to know each volunteer and find a kid that would be a good fit. “We spend a lot of time together and that helps me to match them up,” she says.

Danielle Gould has been a CASA volunteer since 2021 and explains how it has impacted her life. “CASA has changed my life and opened my eyes to the horrors that so many children face every day,” Gould says. “I am so thankful for CASA and for allowing me to be a voice for children in foster care.”

Heather has about three or four training sessions for volunteers a year and the next training will begin in January. She explains that a common misconception is that advanced education is required to become a volunteer.

“Something that I try to make sure everyone understands is that all you have to have is the passion to want to help. We teach you everything else and every case is different. There are going to be times when things happen that I’ve never seen before, but we’ll figure it out together,” she says.

Jessica Spangler has been a CASA volunteer since 2020. “CASA gives me the opportunity to positively impact children’s lives and make a lasting difference that matters,” Spangler says.

To learn more information about CASA or about how to become a volunteer, visit hillsdalecasa.org, find them on Facebook at “Hillsdale CASA, INC - Child-Advocates,” or call 517-425-4145.