One Child at a Time

One Child at a Time
Author: Yolanda Bryant
Publisher: Freeze Time Media
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2014-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9780991355075

When children are taken from their family, due to abuse or neglect, they enter the custody of social services and are put into a foster home. Some of these children are lucky enough to be given a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). "One Child at a Time: The Mission of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)" shares the experiences of CASAs working to give children a voice in court, and a chance to return to a safe home, or to find a new forever home. First, you will meet Kelly, an engaging three-year-old that told her CASA the first time they met, "The people came and took me away from my mommy and daddy. I was crying and crying. I had to go and see a doctor. The doctor gave me a stuffed animal to make me feel better, but it didn't help." The words of this small child floored the author. She seemed to have a better understanding of her feelings than many children much older. It's no wonder that the author would become Kelly's biggest advocate. The second section of the book is a compilation of experiences and feelings from a variety of CASA volunteers. All kinds of people do this work; the only requirement is a love for children. Volunteers are trained for two weeks before starting a case. Along the way, when questions or concerns arise, each volunteer has a supervisor from the CASA office that they can turn to for advice and a listening ear. The joy of seeing a child find the happiness and security each one deserves is an experience that fills a CASA's heart with their own joy and happiness. It is the reason CASAs become hooked from the moment they take a case and meet their children.

I Speak for This Child

I Speak for This Child
Author: Gay Courter
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 1996-05-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780517886861

This is the true story of Gay Courter's work as a Guardian of the legal powers, responsibilities, and duties her position entailed, of her fierce efforts to ensure that her clients were treated with care and respect, and of the rewards of participating in thie nationwide volunteer program. This book is for anyone who has ever wondered, "What can I do to help?"

Foster the Family

Foster the Family
Author: Jamie C. Finn
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2022-02-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149343442X

There are great rewards that come along with being a foster parent, yet there are also great challenges that can leave you feeling depleted, alone, and discouraged. The many burdens of a foster parent's day--hurting children, struggling biological parents, and a broken system--are only compounded by the many burdens of a foster parent's heart--confusion, anxiety, heartache, anger, and fear. With the compassion and insight of a fellow foster parent, Jamie C. Finn helps you see your struggles through the lens of the gospel, bringing biblical truths to bear on your unique everyday realities. In these short, easy-to-read chapters, you'll find honest, personal stories and practical lessons that provide encouragement and direction from God's Word as you walk the journey of foster parenting.

No Way to Treat a Child

No Way to Treat a Child
Author: Naomi Schaefer Riley
Publisher: Bombardier Books
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2021-10-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1642936588

Kids in danger are treated instrumentally to promote the rehabilitation of their parents, the welfare of their communities, and the social justice of their race and tribe—all with the inevitable result that their most precious developmental years are lost in bureaucratic and judicial red tape. It is time to stop letting efforts to fix the child welfare system get derailed by activists who are concerned with race-matching, blood ties, and the abstract demands of social justice, and start asking the most important question: Where are the emotionally and financially stable, loving, and permanent homes where these kids can thrive? “Naomi Riley’s book reveals the extent to which abused and abandoned children are often injured by their government rescuers. It is a must-read for those seeking solutions to this national crisis.” —Robert L. Woodson, Sr., civil rights leader and president of the Woodson Center “Everyone interested in child welfare should grapple with Naomi Riley’s powerful evidence that the current system ill-serves the safety and well-being of vulnerable kids.” —Walter Olson, senior fellow, Cato Institute, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies

Etched in Sand

Etched in Sand
Author: Regina Calcaterra
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0062218840

Regina’s Calcaterra memoir, Etched in Sand, is an inspiring and triumphant coming-of-age story of tenacity and hope. Regina Calcaterra is a successful lawyer, New York State official, and activist. Her painful early life, however, was quite different. Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness in the shadows of Manhattan and the Hamptons. A true-life rags-to-riches story, Etched in Sand chronicles Regina’s rising above her past, while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together through it all. Beautifully written, with heartbreaking honesty, Etched in Sand is an unforgettable reminder that regardless of social status, the American Dream is still within reach for those who have the desire and the determination to succeed.

Nobody's Children

Nobody's Children
Author: Elizabeth Bartholet
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2000-11-17
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9780807023198

Nobody's Children is an intense look at child welfare policies on abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption. Elizabeth Bartholet, one of the nation's leading experts on family law, challenges the accepted orthodoxy that treats children as belonging to their kinship and their racial groups and that locks them into inadequate biological and foster homes. She asks us to apply the lessons learned from the battered women's movement as we look at battered children, and to question why family preservation ideology still reigns supreme when children rather than adult women are involved. Bartholet asks us to take seriously the adoption option. She calls on the entire community to take responsibility for its children, to think of the children at risk of abuse and neglect as belonging to all of us, and to ensure that "Nobody's Children" become treasured members of somebody's family.