By Julia Ritsema
Administrative Assistant
My first year working at CASA was an eventful one, to say the least.
I started on Feb. 5, 2020, which also happened to be the first night of the winter volunteer advocate training class. Not only did I meet all of my colleagues for the time that day, but I met thirteen excited-to-get-started fellow trainees. Our last in-person training session was on March 11, 2020. We were going to get together one last time on March 16 to celebrate completing the CASA training and prepare for being sworn in by the Judge as official Court Appointed Special Advocates. As you might imagine, that didn’t happen. Friday, March 13 ended up being the last day Passaic County CASA’s office was open for several weeks. I had only been a CASA employee for six weeks at this point. The virus spread so fast, and now we had to do the seemingly impossible task of doing our jobs while also navigating a pandemic.
Executive Director Erica Fischer-Kaslander and the leadership team sprang into action. Most of the US and all of New Jersey may have been on lockdown, but child advocacy could not be locked down! We worked from home as a staff, connected by Zoom daily. New ideas were hatched. A Thank You Heroes CASA yard sign became the little sale that did. Wayne Mayor Christopher Vergano displayed our yard sign in his daily COVID video updates, which helped us sell 1,000 signs, many of which are still proudly displayed on people’s lawns.
Through networking and some creative thinking, Passaic County CASA was able to secure hand sanitizer, face masks, face shields, and other supplies so in-person child visits could continue. Grants for new programs were written and applied for. That’s how our Neighborhood Assistance Program was born. Many Passaic County communities were (and frankly, still are) severely impacted by COVID; CASA was awarded a grant to provide diapers and formula to families in need. With a small but mighty group of volunteers that helped with deliveries, we have fulfilled over 350 requests for diapers, formula, and food kits throughout Passaic County. Another grant was awarded for Safe Babies Court Team in Passaic, Essex, and Hudson Counties. The innovative Safe Babies Court Team approach aligns strongly with DCF’s systems change vision to keep children in their homes with their families, increase family reunification, reduce repeat maltreatment, and integrate systems of care, with underlying focus on reducing racial disparity and the impact of trauma. In every way, Passaic County CASA was growing. This was exciting news!
Our first in-person, socially distant, outdoor staff meeting occurred at the end of June. We had not been physically together in more than 80 days. Nonetheless, so much had still happened, and so much had changed. How we operated in the past was no longer. Erica said that day, “The scrappy out-of-the-box thinkers will survive.” This phrase has stayed with me.
We learned that day that many other organizations had halted operations, and were turning down cases or services. On the other hand, Director of Outreach and Training Jessica Mickley was able to implement a virtual training that has worked well. While we do long for the days of having training here in our office, we continue to recruit and train CASA volunteers to advocate for the children in Passaic County foster care. We ran a successful school supply and holiday gift campaign. Thanks to our very generous donors who either came in person to drop off their donations or had sent them through Amazon, every child received several gifts from their wish list. Our very first Thanksgiving Virtual 5-K raised $10,000 and people enjoyed doing it!
While things look very different than they did when I started working at CASA, no matter what the pandemic threw our way, the staff and volunteer advocates continually found a way to make things happen. I am confident they will continue to make things happen because “the scrappy out-of-the-box thinkers” will not only survive…THEY WILL THRIVE!