Joan Jacobson is an active member of the National Council of Jewish Women. She and the organization both champion the rights of children, women and families. It’s her work advocating for the rights of children that will be recognized when CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties honors Jacobson as its CASA Volunteer Honoree at its Promise of Hope luncheon on April 2. The Promise of Hope Luncheon, celebrating the Kansas organization’s 30th anniversary, will be held from noon to 1 p.m., with networking beginning at 11:30 a.m., at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park. To reserve a free space, visit www.casajwc.org or call 913-715-4034.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. Jacobson became involved with CASA through NCJW, which has a long history endorsing the concept of volunteer guardians ad litem to represent abused and neglected children in the court system.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}When the local organization decided to work with that program in 1983, Jacobson naturally jumped on board.
According to Jacobson, CASA got its start here on the Missouri side of the state line in Jackson County. The Greater Kansas City Section of NCJW co-sponsored it in the beginning along with the Juvenile Division of the 16th Judicial Circuit. In fact NCJW fully funded the project in 1983, its first year.
“In subsequent years, NCJW’s contribution was supplemented by donations from foundations, corporations and individuals,” Jacobson said.
In the early years Jacobson served temporarily as the project chairperson and later as chairman of the advisory board.
“We had quite a noteworthy advisory board of about 40, with members from a variety of factions in the community including Mayor Richard Berkley, judges, and medical and mental health personnel who specialized in working with children and social welfare agencies.”
Jacobson was co-president of the local NCJW section in 1985 when the Johnson County CASA Project in Kansas was initiated. She was trained as a member of the first class of Johnson County CASAs, but was unable to take on a case because she took on a full-time position at Shawnee Mission South High School, first as a French teacher and then as a counselor.
“I stayed connected to CASA as a member of the advisory board. Retiring from my counseling position at SMS the end of the 2012 school year gave me the opportunity to at last become a CASA volunteer,” she said.
Some 30 years after originally taking the CASA volunteer training, Jacobson took it again. She went one step further, choosing to take additional training that certified her as a special volunteer working with adolescents about to age out of the foster care system.
Being a CASA gives Jacobson the chance to connect with children whose lives have been disrupted and who have had many losses in their lives.
“The opportunity this gives me to build trust with these wounded children is very gratifying.”
Jacobson has a lot of professional experience working with that age group, but notes that building trust with adolescents is difficult.
“When they find out that your sole purpose is to work on their behalf, to represent their best interest, to be their voice in court,” she explained, “they are just blown away.”
“Building that trust is very challenging, but so satisfying when you do that.”
The role of a CASA working with adolescents, Jacobson explained, is much different from the role of a CASA working with younger children. “Those CASAs survey and investigate all of the people in the constellation of that child’s life in advance of making a recommendation to the court.”
“That’s the beauty of being a CASA, you get to recommend to the court what you feel is the safest place for this child to live may be. The judge looks at that report in addition to the reports from DCF, you feel very responsible to make the right recommendation. That’s a very daunting task,” Jacobson said.
As a CASA for adolescents, she said, she is able to choose a case where she feels she can connect the best.
“A lot of these children are suicidal, depressed … and I’m not put off by that because of my experience,” she said. “Once it’s agreed upon by the court, then I start meeting with the adolescent.”
She gets together with her adolescent every couple of weeks.
“You try to establish a rapport, some level of trust and show them that you care about them and you are an interested party because the people in their lives who were supposed to be the most interested and loving and caring were not.”
At this age, CASAs helps teach these young people how to transition to independent living, as they can no longer be in the foster system after they reach the age of 18.
“My job is to make sure she is aware of the kinds of issues that will be presented to her as soon as she ages out of state supervision,” Jacobson said. Discussions often cover such things as living arrangements, financial assistance, education after high school, opening a bank account, establishing credit and transportation.
“These children are so emotionally wounded that their level of self-confidence is so low and that makes everything harder,” she continued.
Lois Rice, executive director of CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties, said volunteers like Jacobson do things that parents usually do for their children as they become young adults.
“Unfortunately many of these children don’t have those loving adults who will help them, that’s where Joan and CASA volunteers like her fill that role.”
Jacobson is about to take on her third case since she became a CASA and is still in contact with her first two.
“I feel like their friend/big sister, mentor … I get a call now and then if there is a little bit of a crisis, which is fine because I’m willing to help work through that,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson loves being able to help these kids and would like to encourage others to volunteer as a CASA. Last year, 407 abused/neglected children in Johnson and Wyandotte Counties had volunteers by their side as they navigated the child welfare and court system last year. This year, the goal is for 470 kids to have a CASA volunteer and more volunteers are needed to serve the two-thirds of children who have no CASA volunteer. The time commitment is about 10 hours per month and the only requirement is a heart for helping children. To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer, visit www.casakc.org or CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties at 913-715-4040 or Jackson County CASA at 816-984-8208.
Light of Hope Breakfast
Those interested in volunteering for CASA on the Missouri side of the state line may want to attend Jackson County CASA’s Light of Hope Breakfast on April 16 at the Sheraton Crown Center. It begins with a networking session at 7 a.m., followed by the breakfast from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. To reserve a free space, email or call 816-984-8217.{/mprestriction}