By Laura Nanda
Passaic County CASA’s Distance Placement Liaison
So, what exactly is a Distance Placement Liaison? A Distance Placement Liaison is fundamentally a full-time Court Appointed Special Advocate, a unique position at Passaic County CASA, as well as statewide (and maybe even nationally!). As the name suggests, I advocate for children that are placed far from Passaic County.
Before adding the Distant Placement Liaison to the staff of Passaic County CASA, 10-15 children sat on the waiting list without advocacy. The one thing that these children all had in common was that they were placed far away from their home county, which resulted in few volunteers able to make the time commitment needed to advocate for them. Searching for a solution for this constantly unserved population, Passaic County CASA created the role in the fall of 2019 which has been the reason 20 children have had their voices heard in court since then.
Currently I have a caseload of about 15 children who range in age from 21 months to 18 years. Two of my CASA teens have children of their own. Just like CASA volunteers, I visit with children, attend treatment meetings, review records and documents, interview family and professionals involved in the case, and prepare court reports for each case. Unlike many CASA volunteers however, I sometimes have to travel two, three or more hours from Passaic County to reach the locations my CASA children live in. Some of the children are placed in group homes or facilities, some in relative homes and others in resource homes. A portion of my time is dedicated to logistics and depends on the circumstances of the individual child. Since many of the children I advocate for are placed in southern New Jersey, I try to schedule my visits there in one or two days, often visiting two and sometimes as many as five children in a day. It takes some planning: different placements have different rules about visiting, each child has different commitments and appointments, etc., I have to plan out my visit factoring in the child’s needs, their location, travel time, and everyone's schedule. I frequently visit kids more than once a month depending on what is going on in the case and — prior to COVID — I also attended treatment team meetings in person, which I now attend virtually.
As all CASAs understand, it takes time to build a relationship with our children, so with the older children, I call or text them in between visits, or send notes and postcards to let them know I’m thinking of them. I have celebrated birthdays, graduations and other milestones in their lives, and I have sat with teenage girls as they cried about a breakup or yet another disappointment with their family or situation. It is sometimes heartbreaking, but also incredibly rewarding.
I set out in my car with an audio book or podcast to keep me company, stopping by farmer’s stands or blueberry farms to break up the drive and often calling another child along the way as I visit my next CASA child. I often ask them for a music recommendation for my ride home. It is never anything that is on my regular playlist and I love that.
As I travel up and down the garden state, I feel grateful that I am able to go the distance for these children and adolescents, literally and figuratively. They’ve had hard pasts, and faced challenging circumstances in their short lives. Living far from Passaic County shouldn’t mean things are harder for them now than they need to be. They deserve to have an advocate they count on, just like every other child in foster care. Someone who will remember their birthdays, call them to say hi, and makes them feel special.
Being a CASA is a tremendously rewarding experience, and it is something I encourage others to consider doing. You don’t have to drive up and down NJ to change a child’s life. You could make a difference for a child in foster care living just around the corner.