COVID-19: Our Response
The safety of children, volunteers, and staff is always our priority at CASA of Tarrant County. Please stay informed about the best ways to protect you, your loved ones, and your neighbors by visiting the Tarrant County Public Health Department’s website, calling the Tarrant County Coronavirus hotline at 817-248-6299, visiting the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS)’s COVID-19 webpage.
Our Actions:
To protect the children we serve, our volunteers, staff, stakeholders, and our community, we have:
Required all staff to work remotely until further notice.
Required volunteers to advocate remotely until further notice.
Volunteers are only to advocate through phone, video chat, internet, mail, and email.
Advocates should still gather information and document in Optima.
CASA staff and volunteers are not attending court at this time. Most courts are not holding child welfare hearings outside removals and show-cause hearings, which CASAs typically do not attend. Advocates and staff should continue to work on court reports so they can be submitted as needed and so information in the report stays up to date. Contact your Specialist for specific information about your case’s hearings.
Face-to-face interactions with children and others are suspended until further notice.
Postponed or canceled upcoming events, including canceling our Clay Shoot and postponing our Kids on Canvas event.
Moved new advocate information sessions, new advocate training, and continuing education to online platforms. See our calendar for more information.
COVID-19 Impact on Children
Child abuse and neglect are expected to get worse during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are already seeing these ramifications in our community. Child abuse and neglect tend to increase during times of stress, social isolation, and economic downturn. Since teachers are most likely to report child abuse and neglect, more child abuse and neglect may occur during the COVID-19 outbreak but with schools closed there may be fewer reports of it. COVID-19 will be a trying time for everyone, and the most vulnerable children in our community may feel the ramifications more than most.
COVID-19 is also affecting families already involved in the child welfare system. Due to COVID-19, children may miss family visits where they can see their mom and dad. They may miss weekends with grandma or visits with their siblings. They’re out of school and cooped up like other children. They are isolated, but they don’t get to be at home.
Child Protective Services and Our Community Our Kids (OCOK) are managing the basic needs of children in foster care, just as they did before the COVID-19 outbreak. Cases of child abuse and neglect are continuing to be reported and investigated, and CASA will continue advocating for children in foster care while protecting the safety of our children, volunteers, staff, and community.
We know you care deeply about the welfare of children in our community. We will continue to update you on the state of foster care in Tarrant County and our advocacy, and your continued support is a critical piece to make sure children don’t have to face foster care alone. Currently our waiting list of children in need is over 500. We will continue to assign volunteers to children in need of advocacy, and thanks to your generosity, COVID-19 will not deter our volunteer advocates or staff from speaking up for children in foster care.
Please take care of yourself, your family, and your community during this difficult time. In the midst of our global uncertainty, please join us in keeping our community’s foster children near in your thoughts. Remember them as they, their caseworkers, families, and foster families navigate this difficult time in a transitioning and overburdened child welfare system, and remember them for their resiliency. Foster children overcome insurmountable odds while facing the unknown, all while in isolation from their families, teachers, friends, and extended families. Draw on them for inspiration, and draw on CASA’s mission as a reminder that we all do better when we speak up and look out for the most vulnerable in our community.
CASA volunteer Rebeccah Fuller says, “I was able to do my first Google Meetup virtual parent/child observation today. It was very different but good to see the kids soaking up the attention and interaction with their loved one. It is definitely a different type of advocacy however it’s just as valuable, if not more due to the nature of the isolation so many are facing. Thankful for the opportunity technology is providing.”
"Visiting with my kiddo via phone/video chats has been a change, but it has had its benefits. It has reinforced to him that no matter what comes along, I will get in contact with him to make sure he is okay. He has also tried new things since I can't visit, like replacing his broken guitar string. I can still achieve Educational Advocacy by accessing his grades online and discussing them with him."—CASA, Jay Wilson
“Checking in with my kiddos looks a lot different today than a month ago, but FaceTime helps us maintain our connection. In my experience, young boys like to chat with emojis floating in the background and little girls like to make sure you see pretty hair bows. The good news is that the new norm doesn’t prohibit my educational advocacy. It didn’t take long for me to determine that my elementary school guy wasn’t sure what was expected of him from his teachers, when assignments were due and on what platform. A quick email to his teachers gave me a better understanding and specific ways to encourage him in his school work.”—CASA, Elizabeth Mattson