The Collin County Observer

County In Need Of Advocates For Abused Children

February 4, 2010
Stephanie Lucero -- CBS 11 / TXA 21


COLLIN COUNTY (CBS 11 / TXA 21) - Virginia Barrett says the intimate details of child abuse appalled her when she served on the Collin County Grand Jury. It was the gruesome details behind a number of cases that led Barrett to become a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer.

"People say, 'How can you do this?' and I think my response is 'How can you not?'" Barrett asked. "If you see a need, you just have to put aside all those heartbreaking things and think 'What can I do to make it better?"

There is a shortage of CASA volunteers across North Texas. CASA of Collin County is currently serving 250 children who have been removed from their parent's home. The agency serviced 460 children last year.

"CASA gets involved with a case once Child Protective Services (CPS) has done its initial investigation and determined the child cannot be safe at home," explained Susan Etheridge, the Executive Director of CASA Collin County.

David Shevlin adopted twin brothers, Alex and Andrew, when they were 14 years old. The twins were adopted after their parents lost custody of them in Florida. Shevlin says his entire family, of eight, has bonded with the teenagers and that experience led him to become a CASA volunteer.

"There was quite a bit of abuse in the past," Shevlin said of his adopted sons' experience. Alex and Andrew were severely malnourished and weighed only 38 and 40 pounds when they were adopted.

Shevlin was one of 28 men and women trained to be CASA volunteers last week. "It's a hard job to hear about the horrific abuse that these children have suffered," Etheridge said of those who step up to help.

Volunteers go through a week of training and report to a CASA Supervisor. The volunteers interview children, advocate for their best interests, and investigate each case. During their investigation they talk to the parents, family members, teachers, therapists and anyone who has knowledge of what is taking place in the home.

The CASA volunteer then recommends, to the judge overseeing the case, whether the child should be returned to the parents or be removed from the home permanently. Etheridge says, "The volunteer forms a strong relationship with the child", and visits with him or her at least twice a month.

There is a shortage of CASA volunteers in Collin County, with the more experienced advocates handle multiple cases.

Virginia Barrett says she stays in contact with many of the children she has advocated for over the past 11 years. "In some cases the parents, who have been drug abusers, they get their act together and the family gets back together and that's happily ever after too," she said.

Find out more about possibly becoming a CASA volunteer in Collin County.

Link to article and more on CBS-11....