By Erica Fischer-Kaslander
Executive Director
One of my coworkers commented to me today, “this job really should be called multi-tasking.” I dismissed her comment as a sign of the times. A few hours later I took a step back when I found myself on speakerphone with an emergency case-related issue, with a Zoom meeting muted on the laptop in front of me, while I stood at my kitchen island stirring a pot of mac and cheese to feed my kids lunch. Did I mention this is all while I watched my preschooler attend his last day of preschool via Google Meet on the iPad across the room? Meanwhile, our staff Google Hangouts was dinging with alerts like a chorus on the corner of my computer monitor in front of me. At that moment, I thought to myself, “multitasking is what we used to do. I don’t know what this is, but I do know it’s insane.”
There’s a single line of text found at the bottom of almost every job description in the nonprofit world: “And all other duties as assigned or required.”
I’ve been CASA’s Executive Director for the last 13 years, and I’m confident that my job description never mentioned pandemic planning, epidemiology, infectious disease control, supply chain management, home schooling, virtual continuing education, remote technology, grief counseling, staff therapy, or food insecurity. However, all of these activities found their way into the “other duties” category, and then quickly turned into “main duties” on March 12 when we began pandemic operations and the job descriptions as we knew them went out the window. It all happened so fast that I don’t think anyone realized the magnitude at the time. We just did what made sense and needed to get done.
I share this because on more than one occasion recently I’ve been asked questions such as, “Why is CASA leaning into work with food insecurity?” “How did you operationalize while everything was shut down?” “When do you think you’ll reopen?” I understand the confusion and questions; it’s a confusing time.
The first day or so we all went home to lick our wounds, stumble around our homes to try and find some area to assemble a makeshift office, and attempted to build a schedule to move forward. It was like looking into an abyss though. At that point, there was no direction from anyone. There were no plans for court, and New Jersey’s child protection agency, DCP&P, had shut down for an unknown time period. We knew our own children were home from school for two weeks, but then what? We wondered aloud to each other if we may find ourselves back at work with our kids in tow. Amongst our fifteen staff we have twelve school age children. It would be a very full office!
Erica, right, brainstorms with other PCPP members
At that point we decided we needed to take matters into our own hands. We couldn’t wait any longer. When other organizations, state agencies, and local government provided further guidance, then we’d adjust accordingly. Overnight, we took our “normal” operations, which are very much based on the premise of human relationships and in-person contact, and pivoted so all activities could be completed in a virtual setting. We updated our website to include a dedicated COVID-19 community resource section. When families who never needed assistance before started asking for help with some very basic essentials after layoffs, cancelled jobs, and closed down businesses started to affect their household income, we realized we needed to do more than ever. We leaned into meeting this need by joining with 5 other cutting-edge nonprofits to create the Passaic County Pandemic Partnership (PCPP). We launched the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) as part of the PCPP to address food insecurity and other basic needs for child welfare-involved families. We finished one volunteer training class, and then immediately started and finished a second training class of brand new volunteer advocates from behind a computer screen. Our development and operations staff conducted a wildly successful "Heroes” lawn sign campaign. The amazing part is that this was all done while advocates and staff continued to speak up and advocate for the best interests of all our children. Our operations may look different than they did a few months ago, but there’s not a day since the pandemic hit that Passaic County CASA has not been in full operations - and then some.
A partial list of our “other duties as assigned” over the past few months as recounted by CASA staff
Keisha: When families weren’t able to reach the Board of Social Services or Unemployment, they reached out to me for assistance. I’ve spent countless hours on the phone with worried parents, helping them apply for SNAP, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, and rental assistance, as well as helping them track down their stimulus checks.
Janice: At one point during the evolution of the federal economic stimulus packages, I was watching technical webinars on a daily basis to keep up with the rapidly changing laws, regulations, interpretations, and processes. There was more than one week where updates that affected the coming week’s deadlines were released to the public around 7 p.m. on Friday evening.
Ed: Many services usually offered to our children (e.g., Early Intervention, therapies, etc.) have been discontinued or reconfigured. Through the benevolence of One Simple Wish and other donors, we have been able to provide learning toys and other developmentally appropriate tools to our children. Thus, my “other duties assigned” have sometimes been as delivery man.
Laura W: I sewed masks for most CASA staff members and their families (back in the early days when masks couldn’t be found) and ordered a case of hand sanitizer for us to share (when that too couldn’t be found anywhere). Also, this isn’t something I can claim credit for, but Jess and others pivoted to fulfill the continuing education and social needs of our volunteers through virtual in-services and happy hours. Also, Courtney, Pam, and others drove all over North Jersey delivering signs as part of the “Heroes” lawn sign campaign.
Michelle: I developed a reference that helps our Judges understand which supervisor and CASA are assigned to each case, facilitating our participation in virtual court hearings. I also helped connect one of our youth, in need of tutoring, with a CASA volunteer who is now tutoring him via video chat. At one point, I recruited friends to help me sew buttons onto 50 headbands, to make all-day-mask-wearing a little easier on the ears of one advocate (and her colleagues) who work as ER nurses in a hospital.
Gina: A few weeks ago, I unloaded boxes of food kits being delivered to our office from the CUMAC truck. Since the pandemic started, I have worked more hours every week than I did prior to the pandemic. Staff and volunteers have needed more from me, so I am available to them pretty much all the time now. My newest role at CASA is summer camp "coordinator.” I’m currently working with volunteers and staff to try to get some CASA children into some of the coveted in-person summer camp spots available.
Julie: I have been humbled to see the outpouring of love and support from the generous hearts in and around our community! Since day one, items from the Amazon wish list, diapers, and formula donations started pouring in. As part of the Passaic County Pandemic Partnership, CUMAC has provided CASA food kits to send out to those in need in the community along with diapers, wipes and formula. With a small but mighty team of volunteers and staff we have been able to do delivery between 30-50 food kits weekly.
Courtney: What started as a nice way to promote our organization while saying “thank you to the heroes” turned into an unpredictable and quite substantial fundraiser/marketing tool for CASA. We could not have imagined the popularity of our lawn signs efforts and the resulting 1000 lawns we staked them into. As the lead delivery person, I can say I now know the streets of Wayne, NJ (which purchased the large majority of signs) far better than those in my own hometown.
Davetta: During the beginning of the pandemic, I was assigned to a case with two children who had just recently moved to new resource homes. Unfortunately, their belongings did not move with them. The boys were in a resource home with complete strangers, and none of their basic needs. On that same day, I went to CUMAC, the CASA Office and a local convenience store to pick up everything they needed. Did I mention I did this all while being 7 months pregnant with swollen feet?
Laura N.: One of my CASA kids celebrated a birthday last month, so I participated in a birthday drive by, complete with balloons. I’ve sent art supplies to all the budding artists and recently dropped off poetry books to an aspiring poet. After schools closed, one of my teenagers started having a difficult time completing her schoolwork because of very slow Wifi at her group home. I insisted that she have access to better Wifi so she didn’t fall behind in school.
Jess: When the CASA office and then the entire state of New Jersey shut down, I lost one of my favorite aspects of my job: creating opportunities for volunteer fellowship through book clubs, trainings, and other gatherings. So I became CASA’s resident trivia master. I hosted a number of CASA volunteer and staff virtual trivia nights/happy hours so we could all have some fun and feel less alone during such a crazy time. I think my favorite vaguely pandemic-related trivia question was, “What are the four ingredients in bread?”
Sarah: When COVID-19 led to a number of new cases, including a family of four children that I used to work with, I agreed to be their CASA until the next class of volunteers were sworn in. I wanted to be sure that someone was there to participate in their telephonic Child Study Team meetings and deliver the educational toys they needed to stay busy. I also helped to connect the first free CASA tutor to a child on my caseload that needed assistance in math.
Jill: I was assigned to two cases while waiting for new CASA volunteers to be sworn in. I delivered diapers and wipes to one new resource parent with an infant, when the stipend from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency was delayed. I assisted a resource parent out of the county with connecting to her local providers, as well as mailed her diapers and wipes when she wasn’t sure if her food benefits would renew because she was going to miss the appointment (since the office was closed). Also, a number of children had birthdays occur in the beginning of the pandemic, and I ensured that the children who had to celebrate their birthdays with a stay-at-home order in place received a birthday card and a gift.
Pam: It's a "Pandemic"! But CASA staff members are still working at our regular duties... and beyond. Kids need to keep busy, so I have been creating and mailing/delivering "fun packs" of games, toys, puzzles, and music to keep kids occupied. Kids grow, so I’ve been packing and delivering summer clothes for kids since stores are closed. Kids are hungry, so I’ve delivered hot meals to families in Paterson. And our supporters want to thank front line workers, so I drove many miles delivering hundreds of lawn signs to thank our heroes. Thank you supporters for making it possible for this CASA staff member to help those in need!