Social Responsibility Project Topic: Textbook expenses are too costly and limit some students

Team Two 1

Group Final Report - Independent Social Responsibility Project

CASA Alameda

Executive Summary

The California Court Appointed Special Advocates of Alameda County is an organization that is funded through the United States Department of Justice and Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (California CASA-Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). The purpose of this organization is to provide children in the child welfare system with advocacy, stability, and support as they develop and grow throughout their adolescent years. The Court Appointed Special Advocates are funded to recruit, train, and prepare ordinary people to provide one year of consistent service for foster care youth; however, due to a minimal number of resources, the number of volunteers has been reduced and CASA has not been able to maintain adequate support to assist their foster care youth. According to recent studies conducted by the CASA Impact Survey, 91% of the youth in foster care are being served by one of the 51 counties with CASA programs (Impact Survey 2019-2020). Without adequate funding and resources, the lives of those youth are left without the support they need in order to recover from traumatic experiences. We propose that CASA address this problem by acquiring additional funding and resources through corporate funding and donations, strategically plan to recruit in areas for long-term workers, ethically balance the caseloads and responsibilities of their volunteers, and continue to request legislation on behalf of CASA and foster care youth.

Company Background

Asserting the slogan, “Every child needs a champion,” the Alameda County Court Appointed Special Advocates Program was established as an extension of the California Court Appointed Special Advocates Program in 1987, by the late Seattle Superior Court Judge David Soukup. The California Court Appointed Special Advocates Program was established in Alameda County in 1977 after judging many court cases concerning foster care youth. (CASA of Alameda County).

The Court Appointed Special Advocates are a group of volunteers who are recruited and trained to assist youth and families experiencing a range of crises. These crises vary from physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, neglect, and other severe offenses. The Court Appointed Special Advocates, also known as CASA volunteers, are provided with exceptional training and receive supervision from local non-profit organizations that specialize in the well-being of children. CASA spends over $2,500 annually on the recruitment and training of its volunteers. Training involves techniques to address a child holistically by providing trauma-informed care that addresses psycho-social-related issues (California CASA-Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). CASA advocates are trained to keep the youth in sync with their communities, educational endeavors, careers, friends, culture, identities, and with their families when appropriately deemed safe by the courts. The CASA volunteers are essential to the foster care youth as they provide a source of psychological and emotional stability and a “constant” for their fundamental growth and well-being (California CASA-Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children).

Why is This a Complex Issue?

The purpose of CASA is to assist the youth trapped in the foster care system and aid them on their journey toward success. CASA assists children and youth ranging from a few months to 21 years old. The issue that CASA faces is finding the necessary assistance and support for these neglected children. Without the assistance of CASA, many foster children in Alameda County may become victims of the system, have run-ins with the law, and could also become entangled with welfare programs. CASA court appointed volunteers provide guidance and advocacy for foster children who often fall victim to non-supportive, negligent, or even abusive homes that lack the essential financial and psychological resources required to raise a child. CASA volunteers are proven to aid in foster youth crime prevention and in the difficult transition to adulthood. CASA helps solve the problem by providing advocacy, support, resources, and guidance for foster children in these types of situations.

Importance

CASA is a significantly valuable and important organization as it provides youth intervention for foster children with a high need for this type of assistance. Research has shown that the introduction of just one caring adult in the life of a child who has experienced trauma can alter the course of the child’s life forever. Having a CASA volunteer serve as the intervention helps foster youth gain the confidence and necessary financial, mental, and health resources that allow the youth to feel safe and secure. CASA volunteers can also serve as positive role models who look out for the best interests of the foster children. The goal of CASA is to place foster youth in permanent homes, help them navigate throughout the court process, and guide them on their journey toward success. CASA Alameda ensures that its volunteers are helping the foster youth navigate through the complex court process and are responsible for advocating effectively on behalf of a foster youth’s needs.

Many children with lack of access to emotional care, financial support, and proper guidance are placed in foster care facilities. Facility owners are tasked with parental duties to provide care and equip children with educational and life skills. Foster care programs are funded by federal and state government agencies.

Within the last ten years, there were 15.7 million children who lived in foster homes in the United States. California was at the top of the list with 6,221 (11.17%) adoptions per year. Between 2010 and 2019, the state placed 62,211 children in the foster care system, followed by Texas (9.61%) and Florida (6.52%) (AFCARS FY 2010- 2019).

In most circumstances, foster homes are seen as safe options for children in abusive and unsafe households. This assumption was challenged by a study published on June 1, 2008. The study conducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation depicts a different reality faced by foster children on many fronts. The data was collected between FY 2000 and FY 2006. According to the paper, 55% of the foster children had been arrested at least once between the ages 18 to 21 in comparison to 8% of children not living in foster care. 61.5% of households had only one foster child while 24.3% had two, and 10% had three or more foster children. (Annie E. Casey 14) Furthermore, it has been reported that foster homes are disadvantaged compared to other households with children. The issue stems from undesired living conditions, such as larger houses with larger numbers of children, a greater ratio of children to adults, low income families, unmarried foster care couples, crowded environments, and adults less likely to work full-time and likely to report living through government assistance (Annie E. Casey 3). These findings shed light on the importance of the external intervention to fix the link between the goal of the foster care programs and a practical system where taxpayers money is spent efficiently and on a productive process.

Children are often placed in foster homes due to the abuse and neglect they experience within their birth homes. By the time they are transferred to foster care, they have already experienced a great deal of physical and mental trauma. The living conditions within foster homes not only adds to their disadvantages, but it also exacerbates their feeling of misery and helplessness. Many older foster children live in a series of foster homes during their care, and in most states, they emancipate on their own at the age of 18. After leaving their foster care homes, many are behind in school and in other critical life skills. This is due to unstable circumstances in the life of a foster child. Oftentimes foster children have to switch to different schools as a result of a change in living arrangements from one place to another. The longer a child lives under foster care, the higher the probability they will be moved from one place to another. The chart below, taken from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, illustrates the length of the children’s stay in foster homes:

According to the data, in 2014, 217,644 children (53%) lived in foster homes for one through 5 years. These children remained behind in school and lacked emotional stability. Emotional and educational instability are not the only elements contributing to the overfall of a child's negative experiences. The below chart, published by National Conference of State Legislatures, illustrates the scale of mal-treatment elements confirmed by the Child Protective Services (Mbengue 2)

According to this data, 72% of foster children have experienced neglect within their foster homes. Furthermore, their disadvantages double down when they are removed from an abusive home to another harsh environment (Mbengue 2).

It is extremely important to create awareness about the plight of children who are doomed to live under these conditions. We must determine ways to create services that mitigate the impact of foster parents' mistreatments on their psychological health and education in the future. If the status quo remains uninterrupted, these children will enter the society as adults who lack emotional stability, educational progress, and the basic life skills to lead a healthy, productive, and successful life.

Force Field Analysis

Although the issues that foster care children and the issues that CASA attempts to solve may seem black and white, this is far from the case. Several forces prevent CASA from being able to provide the most adequate services to children. The Force Field Analysis observes the forces against change and the forces for change. The ultimate goal for these foster children is to place them in homes and ensure that they have a stable adult figure to look out for their best interest and their well-being. Forces against change include a lack of volunteers and staff, inadequate support from county social service offices, and a lack of funding from the government as well as other possible sources such as corporations or donations. These forces together are preventing CASA and other stakeholders from providing the best form of service to these children. Forces for change include increased feelings of misery and helpfulness experienced by the children who are residing in foster homes. Children often experience neglect and abuse when placed in foster homes (Mbengue 2). Many foster children also lack representation and stability when they are placed in foster care, which drives a force for change. Though the forces for and against change seem simple, they involve many stakeholders and cooperation from several different agencies and organizations.

Competitor Analysis

While there are organizations that help foster youth in their development and create one-on-one mentorship such as the Boys and Girls Club of America and Big Brothers and Big Sisters, these organizations do not fill the gaps for foster youth who need special care and assistance in navigating the court system. CASA Alameda specifically trains and encourages volunteers to serve as youth advocates, ensuring that the volunteers are thoroughly trained to understand the methods to navigate the court system. The volunteers are specially appointed by judges to serve in the best interest of the foster youth. CASA volunteers learn how to manage interactions with families, relatives, resource families, lawyers, teachers, psychologists, and doctors; each of which are important people who play critical roles in a foster youth’s life. CASA Alameda is part of a network of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem network serving in the best interest of the youth.

Stakeholder Analysis

There is a famous African proverb which states that “It takes a village to raise a child”. While many of the foster youth that are served by CASA Alameda have been abused and neglected, the “village” that raises the youth extends beyond blood relations. In our stakeholder analysis (Appendix A), we share the various members of our society who serve in ensuring that youth in the dependency court system have the deserved opportunity to thrive and succeed in life.

In our stakeholder analysis, we share the various members of our society who serve in ensuring that the foster youth in the dependency court system have the opportunity to thrive. The key stakeholders we have identified are the Youth, CASA organizational staff, Friends of CASA Board of Directors, CASA Volunteers, Families, Resource Families, Teachers, Schools, School Districts, Social Workers, Judges, Lawyers, Congressional Members, and County Service Members.

The stakeholder with the most at stake is the youth. The decisions and resources provided by the court system have an impact on their current living situation and future success of the foster children. The foster youth have the most at stake and the most interest in the types of decisions that are made on their behalf regardless of whether they realize it or not. Despite this, they also have the lowest power both socially and politically due to their age constraints.

Other significant stakeholders include the CASA Alameda staff, the families who lack the required resources to care for the identified youth, and the Resource Families who provide safe places for the foster youth. Our stakeholders cover a wide range as many have a responsibility toward foster youth and are working with neglected foster youth in the dependency care system.

The interest for CASA volunteers is high as they are volunteering their time and resources to the organization to make a difference in the foster youth’s life. The volunteers are also committed to staying with a youth and providing stability for a minimum of one year until they are able to receive a permanent placement home. CASA volunteers have a bit more power and knowledge than the youth due to their age, experience, time, and resources. While they are in the position to make a huge impact on a foster youth’s life, they may not have the largest political power within society other than being able to vote in elections.

Alameda County CASA volunteers and foster youth rely on judges and on the East Bay Children’s Law Office (EBCLO) Lawyers to serve as partners who ensure that the foster youth are placed in permanent homes and have the appropriate resources provided to them. The judges and lawyers who accept juvenile dependency cases often go into the field due to their high interest in the subject. Since judges and lawyers are experts in the law and are the decision makers in regards to where the youth should be placed, they have the highest social power and political power.

Strategic Stakeholder Map

Social Stakeholder Map

Political Activity

In addition to CASA, numerous forms of legislation dedicated to child welfare and foster youth were brought into effect in California over the last several years. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed roughly a dozen laws that address a variety of areas pertaining to child welfare.

Regarding financial stability, Senate Bill 150 eases qualification requirements for the Chafee Education and Training Voucher, a funding program that provides up to $5000 of college financial aid to foster youth (Loudenback). Those entitled to this funding are able to obtain more of the money at the beginning of the school year in order to tackle the big costs of tuition and class materials. More often than not children and young adults are unable to attend the school of their dreams or overall pursue higher education to potentially obtain better employment opportunities because of rising costs of tuition and materials. This is especially more prevalent with foster children as they practically have no financial backbone to help them straight out of high school and scholarships are not a guarantee. SB-150 makes the opportunity of higher education far more achievable to foster children.

On a slight tangent, Assembly Bill 1068 makes child and family team meetings mandatory in regards to education-related topics. Some of the issues these meetings cover include whether a child should continue attending their current school and, should they continue to attend, discussion of potential transportation plans to reach their school and participate in extracurricular activities that take place after school (Loudenback). This is extremely critical as children, let alone those in foster care, are often unable to pursue and develop personal interests in the form of extracurricular activities due to time constraints and conflicting schedules. To ensure these topics are on the forefront and significant individuals within the foster child’s life can have a say, notes and transcripts from these child-family team meetings may be attached to court reports.

On the social side of the system, Assembly Bill 175 greatly broadens California’s current Foster Youth Bill of Rights by including the recognition of preferential sexual orientation and gender identity, allowing LGBTQ+ foster youth to declare an identity comfortably. AB-175 also gives foster youth the right to access substance abuse services and the right to refuse non-prescribed medication or chemical substances without the fear of being penalized (Loudenback). This ensures that foster youth, a group susceptible to substance abuse, obtains critically needed services and the right to choose from the offered substances. Being able to solidify your own personal identity and having the right to decline whatever may affect your body is something that is hardly considered for youth and yet is incredibly important. Apart from gaining a sense of self-worth and confidence, these children are able to gain the skill of standing up for themselves and not allowing others to dictate what ideologies they must follow or partake in actions that are well beyond their comfort zone.

Many children end up being turned over to foster care as a result of crime and other offenses committed by the parent or caregiver, regardless of the severity of the offense. Senate Bill 394 allows criminal courts to grant pre-trial diversion to defendants who have custody over children younger than the age of 18 (Loudenback). This would only be eligible for custodial parents or legal guardians who have committed misdemeanors or non-violent, non-serious felony charges. Should prosecutors and public defenders be willing, courts may offer diversion programs and other supportive services to the defendant rather than sentencing them to incarceration. Previously only available to specialty courts, those eligible can receive access to drug and alcohol treatment, mental health screenings, anger management classes, and a variety of supportive courses. This greatly encourages the provision of better accessibility to services and helps avoid a deeper involvement with the criminal justice system. While opposition to this bill claims that this favors defendants with children and negatively impacts victims, they do not consider a couple of things (Loudenback). Services are not a free get-out-of-jail card and must be completed within a given time. Failure to do so will re-open criminal cases and ensure a form of accountability. This is far better than incarcerating a guardian for potentially several years and forcing children to be taken by social workers and placed into foster homes. Court systems should focus more on how a sentence may impact others, especially children, rather than just the defendant themselves.

Numerous pieces of legislation have been passed over recent years to introduce rights and services that were critically needed and to massively update existing laws to become more relevant and counter the modern, massive challenges that plague foster youth today. They give foster children the assurance that their struggles and concerns are seen, heard, and understood and grant them a much more pronounced presence in society. A display of evidence that foster children exist and face daily obstacles brings significant awareness across all levels of society, from the random citizen to local and state governments. This alone paves the way to potential new laws, services, and funding for these foster children.

Recommendations

The most effective way for any organization or company to provide valuable services or products is to ensure that they have enough employees and that they care for them appropriately. If CASA ensures that its volunteers are feeling respected and cared for, then it will indirectly affect the foster children whom the volunteers are assisting. CASA must equip its employees with the proper equipment, training, and knowledge in order to most effectively benefit the foster children. CASA must also provide mutually beneficial value to employees. CASA can provide value by carefully selecting employees who seek professional experience and personal fulfillment in counseling and helping others, teaching and mentoring, and caring for the well-being of the children. The perfect place to search for this type of employee would be within college universities. The ideal candidate would be a college student seeking to build professional development in child and teen psychology, counseling, or in teaching subjects such as math, history, art, physical education, and more. CASA can leverage the opportunity for professional development for college students in return for the educational resources and skills that the students can provide to the foster children. This would be a great way to save money on educational costs while benefiting college students who can then add this type of valuable experience to a resume. In partnering with college universities, CASA can develop an internship program in which college students can receive course credits, providing further incentive. The goal of this internship program would be to help provide emotional and educational stability for the foster children. CASA can help connect foster children with interns who will mentor them, teach them, and be a listening voice as well as a positive role model.

CASA should secure additional funding and resources whether through corporate partnerships, educational partnerships, events, government funding, donations, or investments. Corporations can partner with CASA and in return they will receive the opportunity to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. CASA should focus attention on securing and maintaining partnerships with corporations and donors. For example, CASA could focus on a program with Target to support school supply donations for foster children. Another opportunity for funding would be in partnership with tech companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HP). CASA could work with HP on the creation of a program to recycle used technology that can be refurbished and provided to the foster children mainly for school use. If resources allow, then foster children could additionally use the technology for personal use. Large corporate charity events are also a great way to raise funding whether through an auction put together with donations or a fancy corporate dinner with a talent show provided by the foster children. CASA can use some of this funding to hire additional staff and push human resources into advocacy for foster children. With stronger advocacy, CASA can push for government funding and legislation on behalf of foster children. Furthermore, CASA should hire a few financial experts to designate some funding toward solid investments that can grow into a strong stream of funding.

Lastly, we suggest the restructuring and tailoring of human resources to better meet the needs of foster children. CASA strives to provide a stable adult figure in the lives of foster children. Children who are in the foster care system are constantly in and out of court meetings with social workers. Social workers in the County of Riverside have an average of 35 children on a caseload and social workers in the County of San Diego have an average of 25 children per caseload (Miller). While CASA volunteers serve as role models to foster children, social workers do not have the capacity to do so as they are overworked and overwhelmed with the number of foster children they must assist. We recommend that the number of children per caseload per social worker be decreased so that workers are able to better focus on each individual child. Although CASA volunteers can provide children with some stability, the children are often faced with the challenge of constantly switching social workers due to their age and other placement factors (Miller). By working to decrease the caseload of each case worker through advocacy and assigning social workers to children throughout their foster care journey, children would have the opportunity for another stable adult figure in their lives.

Appendix A: Stakeholder Analysis [ Link to full link to Stakeholder Analysis ]

Stakeholder Analysis	Are they public, private or civil society stakeholders?	Direct/ Indirect	Voluntary /involuntary	Communication Medium	Concerns?	Demands?	Their Power type? (Voting power, economic, political, legal, informational)	What can we achieve? ( Loyalty, Efficiency, Cooperation)
Youth	Private	Direct	Involuntary	Personal /Social Media	Whether they will have a place to go or have a potential future	Permanent and safe home; place of belonging	Informational (At their age they do not have	Cooperation
CASA Staff	Civil Society	Direct	Involuntary	Social Media/ Newsletters	Safe and healthy environment for youth; that youth have a support system and don't fall between the cracks	Permanent Placement/Understanding how to navigate the court system; Financial, mental, and health support; volunteers to help youth navigate the court system	Voting Power	Cooperation
Friends of CASA Board of Directors	Private	Indirect	Voluntary	Social Media/ Newsletters	Whether CASA has enough funding to operate effectively; serve as the board of CASA	Funding and Resources for Youth in the foster care system	Economic/Political	Cooperation
CASA Volunteers	Private/Public	Direct	Voluntary	Personal/ Social Media	How to understand and meet the youth's needs emotionally, physically, and financially	Ensuring Youth have a permanent placement; making sure that they have financial, health, and educational resources	Political	Cooperation
Families	Private	Direct	Involuntary	Personal/ Social Media	Whether they will be reunited with their youth? If not, whether the youth would be properly cared for	Ensuring that right resources and support if they want to be reunified with their youth	Informational	Cooperation
Resource Family	Private	Direct	Involuntary	Personal/Social Media/Lobby	Concerned with providing a temporary safe place for the youth to stay	Funding to provide adequate resources for foster children	Informational	Cooperation
Teachers/Schools/ School District	Civil Society	Indirect	Involuntary	School Meetings	Ensuring that IEPs if necessary are implented and subjects are adhered in order for student to graduate; That the students are safe both at school and at home; School staff are mandated reporters	Demand safe space for children at home	Informational; Legal	Cooperation
Social Workers	Government	Direct/Indirect	Involuntary	Personal/ Reports	Assessing child's overall wellbeing and whether or not their living conditions are sufficient/appropriate	More social workers to better serve families and youth	Legal; Informational	Cooperation/Efficiency
Judges	Government	Indirect	Involuntary	Court Records/ Rulings	Ensuring good judgement for the placement of the youth; resources to their families; Recidivism	More resources in place to ensure that youth succeed	Political; Legal	Cooperation/Efficiency
Lawyers	Government	Indirect	Involuntary	Briefings/ Court Reports	Advocating on behalf of the needs of either the youth or family members	Being able to support both youth and families properly	Political; Legal; informational	Cooperation/Efficiency
Congressional Members	Government	Indirect	Voluntary	Press Release	Allocation and availability of funding and resources.	Making sure any support is used solely for its intended purpose	Political, Legal, InformationalEconomic, Voting	Cooperation/Efficiency
County Service Members (i.e. administrate public services- housing vouchers, food stamps, police officers, etc...)	Government	Indirect	Involuntary	Press Release	Are the resources they are providing meeting the needs of those they are serving; That they don't require other social services/fall into crime	Are resources being allocated appropriately	Political, Legal, Informational, Economic, Voting	Cooperation/Efficiency

Works Cited

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AFCARS. “Trends in Foster Care & Adoption: FY 2010- 2019.” The Administration for Children and Families, 8 Nov. 2018, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/trends-foster-care-adoption-2019.

Annie E. Casey. “Data on Children in Foster Care from the Census Bureau.” The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1 June 2008, https://www.aecf.org/resources/data-on-children-in-foster-care-from-the-census-bureau#findings-and-stat.

Mbengue, Nina Williams. “The Social and Emotional Well-Being of Children in Foster Care.” The Social and Emotional Well-Being of Children in Foster Care, National Conference of State Legislatures, 5 Sept. 2016, https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/the-social-and-emotional-well-being-of-children-in-foster-care.aspx.

Loudenback, J. (2019, October 17). California's newest Child welfare laws signed by gov. Gavin Newsom. The Imprint. Retrieved September 17, 2021, from https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/newsom-inks-several-new-california-child-welfare-laws/38342.

Miller, B. ​​Children, Voices For, and About Voices For Children. “Difference between a Casa and a Social Worker.” Voices for Children | A Child Heard. A Life Changed., 17 Apr. 2020, https://www.speakupnow.org/difference-between-a-casa-and-a-social-worker/.