Monmouth foster care kids need advocates to speak up for them. It could be you

There was an eighth-grade boy in Monmouth County who was in the foster-care system. He had a goal, but needed someone to open a door.

Alex Skove was that someone.

“He demonstrated a lot of interest in vocational education, but he was not in a good school district,” said Skove, a mother of four who lives in Rumson. “I was able to help him with his paperwork to get into a vocational high school.”

Now a junior at that school, the young man is specializing in HVAC systems “and he’s on track to graduate and be ready for a work program at 18,” Skove said.

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This wasn’t some random act of kindness. Skove is a volunteer advocate with CASA for Children of Monmouth County. CASA (which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a nonprofit whose volunteers monitor and advocate for kids in the foster-care system. She’s been doing this since 2020, advocating for six children over that span and mentoring a handful of fellow advocates.

“It’s the most hands-on work you can do, and you see the difference you are making,” Skove said. “It really is the best opportunity I’ve found to make a difference.”

Right now CASA has 120 volunteers in Monmouth County advocating for 175 local children in the foster-care system. More volunteers are needed, and the next training program — there are two per year — takes place in March.

“Our CASAs come from all walks of life,” executive director Lynn Pitarresi said. “You have to have the time and you have to have the heart.”

Filling a gap

Volunteer advocates fill an important gap in the child welfare system. As Pitarresi explains it, New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency’s professional case workers can be responsible for tracking up to 20 children. CASA advocates can have a maximum of three at a time.

“The CASAs are the only ones who provide consistent stability,” Pitarresi said. “Children who are removed from their home, their caseworker may change, their school may change, but their CASA stays with them until they either go back home or are adopted.”

It’s an extra layer of supervision, and a more personal one at that.

“At least once a month you sit down with the child you are advocating for, you discern how they’re doing, you talk to their resource parents, teachers, doctors — anybody you can gather information from about how they’re doing,” Skove explained. “You put the information into a report prior to any court hearing. The judge and DCP&P get the report, you sit in on all the court hearings, and the judge asks you to opine.”

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The advocate’s voice is taken seriously, Skove said. It’s not simply a bureaucratic layer.

“The goal at the end of the day is to determine what is the best permanent solution for that kid,” she said. “It can be termination of parental rights or reunification with their parents.”

Those are endgames, but there are other impacts along the way. Skove said one 10-year-old she advocates for has autism and is only partially verbal. She got him moved to a better school and coordinated a review of his medication, “to make sure he’s not being overmedicated or undermedicated.”

Pitarresi said in 2023 another CASA volunteer helped a mother who had lost custody of her child because she was unemployed and became homeless. The advocate “got the mom back on her feet, helping her with a resume and job search, and she found housing and got her child returned to her care,” Pitarresi said.

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'You can change the trajectory of a kid’s life'

For the March training, Pitarresi said, “we like to have 15 to 20 new advocates,” to keep up with the ever-evolving caseload.

“Right now we do need at least 10 more volunteers,” she said.

Ideally, Skove said, CASA for Children of Monmouth County would like to expand to assign advocates to kids who are not yet in foster care but are under DCP&P auspices while still living at home.

“These are the kids that maybe the system is missing,” Skove said. “They (advocates) could support mom and dad a little more, advocate for the kid or ask for more services.”

Skove has a recruitment pitch for anyone who is community-service minded.

“The reason you should do this is there are kids in need and you want to make a difference,” she said. “If you’re spending any of your time helping people in your community, this is really the most impactful way to get that done. You can change the trajectory of a kid’s life.”

To learn more about CASA for Children of Monmouth County or becoming a volunteer advocate, visit www.casaofmonmouth.org or call 732-460-9100.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth foster care program needs volunteer advocates for children