Advocate works hard for homeless
Posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
"I want every child to have a home," said Janet Steencken, a volunteer for Court Appointed Special Advocates of Northwest Arkansas. "Even 17-year-olds (in the foster care system ) want a home, someone to spend the holidays with."
At an awards banquet Feb. 28, the nonprofit agency recognized how hard Steencken works for abused and neglected children to have safe homes by giving her the Heart of CASA award.
As a special advocate for the past three years, Steencken has been working with families, often three at a time, her supervisor Jan Wallis said.
"This advocate can be depended on to attend every training, every volunteer workday, every state CASA conference and every conference on abused and neglected children. And, she actively puts all she learned to practical use.
"She has been instrumental in having siblings placed together, getting a mother into Restoration Village and obtaining eyeglasses for a little girl and counseling for her brother."
Steencken planned to start working for CASA as soon as she retired about four years ago.
"I'm not the type to sit around watching soap operas and eating bonbons," she said. Working with children called to her, just as other people are called to work in nursing homes or for other worthwhile causes, she said.
She has been preparing to work with abused and neglected children since high school, when she worked at a Lutheran children's home near St. Louis. Later, she became a children's counselor, but she changed careers and began working with insurance claims at the Wal-Mart Home Office. She had a family to support and had to pay the bills, she said, and working with paper paid more than working with children.
Besides working with children, when Steencken lived in California, she was a Big Sister to Shauna and also had several foster children living in her home. Eventually she adopted Shauna. Now, Shauna Johnson lives in Gig Harbor, Wash., is married and has three children ages 9, 13 and 15.
What if people don't have all this experience working with children ? Can they still volunteer for CASA ?
Yes, Steencken said. It offers excellent training to start people off and has monthly training sessions to keep them informed.
The most important quality in any volunteer is to be committed to serving children, she said. These defenders of children have to commit to visiting with their charges, health care providers, teachers and social workers, as well as writing reports to the judge about what they learn, she said.
Since Steencken handles cases from Benton County, she reports to Judge Jay Finch He depends on advocates to tell him what is in the best interest of the children, Steencken said.
So many times, they are the only adults who remain constant in the youngsters'lives during a yearlong to two-year court procedure, she said. When the state takes children away from parents, they have one year to "get their act together "so they can get them back, she said. Sometimes, if the parents are making great progress, the judge can allow them more time, she added.
These helpers aid the judge in finding a permanent solution in the best interests of the child. After considering their advice, the judge will either reunite the child with their family, place the child in a permanent home through adoption, or assign them to special group homes or an independent living situation, Steencken said.
To learn more about CASA, call (479 ) 725-2213 or visit www. nwacasa. org /.
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