Child Advocates Of El Dorado County

Jimmy was 14 when his classmate saw his bruises and told the teacher. His father would drink and beat him with a belt. His step-mother stuffed a rag in his mouth so they wouldn’t have to listen to him scream. He had gone to live with them after his mother was murdered. Before her death, he was sexually abused by her boyfriend. Child Protective Services removed Jimmy from his home, and the juvenile court judge ordered that he be placed in a foster home and that a Court Appointed Special Advocate, Martha, be appointed to serve him. She met with Jimmy weekly and met with his foster parents, biological parents, teachers, school counselors, and therapists. Martha then prepared a 9-page report for the judge. In this report, she stated that Jimmy was happy in his foster home and terrified of being sent back to his father. She presented a picture of a polite boy with a slight speech impediment whose school work suffered due to ADHD. She recommended that Jimmy remains with the foster family and that trauma counseling and speech therapy be included in his care. Her recommendations were accepted, and later she reported that Jimmy had joined a church youth group, learned to bowl, and was doing better in school with plans to go on to college. This is not an isolated story. Over 100 children like Jimmy are placed in foster care every year in El Dorado County, and most will remain there for over two years. In all, CASA El Dorado serves approximately 300 abused children annually. CASA El Dorado recruits, trains, and supervises community volunteers. These volunteers are Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), who work 1:1 with children in our county’s foster care system. These children were removed from their parents’ custody due to abuse and neglect. The trauma results in lifelong mental and physical health issues. Our goal is to mitigate these effects by providing a caring adult presence in a young life filled with uncertainty.