Appreciating the professionals who keep children safe

By Juliana Oelkers
Communications/Marketing Intern

This week, September 9 - 13, is Child Welfare Worker Appreciation Week. It is observed every September across the country as a celebration of the hard work and unwavering dedication of child welfare workers.

“While there are many different kinds of child welfare workers, at the root they all share their love for children and dedication to helping those children in need. ”

During this time, we like to remember exactly why these workers are so important. They help vulnerable and at risk children by responding to cases of abuse, removing children from toxic living situations, talking with families to create plans for supporting the child, or arranging care for children whose families cannot take care of them, among many other things.

This week is all about recognizing the profound impact that child welfare workers have on a child’s life. In 2018, there were almost 500 children in the Passaic County foster care system who relied on child welfare workers daily to help them escape and then recover from abuse or neglect. Without an intervention from child welfare workers, many children would still be suffering.

There are countless child welfare workers right here in the Passaic County area. Besides members of Passaic County CASA, child welfare workers also include caseworkers at the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP), the Deputy Attorneys General (DAGs), and Law Guardians.

Child therapists, guidance counselors, social workers, Family Intervention Services (FIS), and the Passaic County Mobile Crisis Unit all fall under the broad umbrella of child welfare workers as well. You may know a child welfare worker and it is likely that someone you know has been positively impacted by their work in some way.

This week is also an opportunity to hear from child welfare workers and learn why they chose this field. Passaic County CASA Case Supervisor Jill Rebeor explains, “I always wanted to work with children, but I didn’t want to be a teacher. With this job I like being able to ensure the child’s safety and establish relationships with them and their caretakers.” While there are many different kinds of child welfare workers, at the root they all share their love for children and dedication to helping those children in need.

Although Child Welfare Worker Appreciation Week only comes once a year, the fight to help abused and neglected children continues all year round. That is why every day is a great day to appreciate your local Child Welfare Workers for everything they do for the children in your community. Donate, volunteer, or just become more informed about child welfare services in order to help child welfare workers ensure children are safe and happy.

Meet our 2019 Voices for Children Gala Honorees: Karen Walker and the late Charles L. Walker

By Laura Warne
Communications Coordinator

Karen and Charles Walker hadn’t even been on their first official date when the topic of foster care came up. Even as young adults, both knew that one day, they would become foster parents and/or adopt.

“There were enough children on this earth who needed a home,” Ms. Walker, a Paterson resident, recently said.

What Karen and Charles didn’t know then was that it would become their collective mission to help children in foster care. Throughout their nearly 49-year marriage, Karen and Charles adopted four children and were foster parents to 26 children, while Charles acted as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for nine additional children.

This dynamic couple will be honored for their lifelong dedication to children in foster care at Passaic County Court Appointed Special Advocates Voices for Children Gala on Friday Sept. 20, 2019 at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne.

In 2012, Karen and Charles were attending a service at Madison Avenue Christian Church when Erica Fischer-Kaslander, Passaic County CASA’s Executive Director, spoke about the program. Charles immediately knew that he needed to get involved. He leaned over to Karen and whispered, "I want to do that."

Charles went on to serve as a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer for five years, until illness prevented him from continuing. Charles passed away at the age of 79 last September.

During his tenure, Gina Cetta, Passaic County CASA’s Program Director, served as his volunteer supervisor.

“Charles was one of the most effective advocates I have ever worked with,” Cetta said. “Everyone listened to him: the children, foster parents, caseworkers, attorneys, and judges.”

The children especially took a liking to Charles’ friendly yet supportive manner.

When one of the children on his case began acting out in class, Charles started going to the school and sitting in the classroom several times a week. The child calmed down when Charles was there; his mere presence brought the child ease.

“He put a smile on everyone's face,” Cetta said.

During the same case, it was recommended that the child be put on medication due to behavioral issues. However, the child’s biological mother would not consent to the treatment. Charles requested a letter from the school, describing the child’s behaviors. He provided the letter to the judge, who ordered the medication for the child. It was Charles’ persistence that gave the child a chance at a solid education.

The issue of foster care was always close to Charles’ heart. His mother died when Charles was 3 years old, and from that moment on, Charles split time between family in New Jersey and family in Virginia. Karen, on the other hand, grew up in Michigan as one of seven children. Years later, her parents would add to the family by adopting three more children.

Karen and Charles met in Paterson. It was the summer of 1968 and Karen was helping with a program called Summer Workshop in Missions, or SWIM, at Paterson’s Northside Chapel. It was there that she met Charles, who was the youth leader at the church.

The two became very good friends that summer, but only friends—partly because SWIM had a no dating rule, and partly because each of them had a significant other.

When autumn rolled around and SWIM ended, Karen opted to stay involved at the church and help with their fall programming. Charles invited Karen to see Nina Simone at a nightclub in New York City later that week. Though the pair had spent a lot of time together over the summer, their hangouts had always been spur of the moment; never planned ahead of time. She recalls asking Charles a very important question.

“Is this a date?” Karen said.

“Hey, if that’s what you want to call it…” Charles answered.

The couple married in 1970 and quickly started the process to become foster and adoptive parents. They focused their efforts on housing unwed mothers and their infants; part of Karen’s role was to teach parenting skills to the mothers.

Karen recalled one evening when she received a call from a child welfare worker who asked if the couple could provide a home for two siblings: a four year old and an eight year old.

Karen called Charles at work to confer about the children, but he had already started his commute home from New York City. This was before cell phones, so all she could do was wait. The caseworker kept calling, and Karen just kept reiterating that she had to speak with her husband first. When Charles finally got home, and Karen told him about the two children, Charles looked around the house and exclaimed, “Well, where are they?!”

“Whatever he was involved in, he did wholeheartedly,” Karen said about Charles.

Cetta echoed Karen’s sentiment about Charles’ dedication.

“He never missed a court hearing or a monthly visit with his CASA children,” Cetta said.

Even when two of his assigned children moved 90 miles away to Pennsylvania, Charles drove out every month to visit with them. Charles also coordinated with the staff at the children’s new school to ensure necessary services were put in place.

Though Karen hasn’t served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, she is a tireless advocate for children in her own right. As a nurse, Karen has always made sure that her foster children received the best possible medical care.

Charles and Karen didn’t let their advocacy stop with their formal roles as foster, adoptive parents and a CASA volunteer. CASA Executive Director Erica Fischer-Kaslander recalls how frequently she’s entered a community meeting or event only to sit down at a table with Karen Walker or have Charles listed as a board member.

“One day Charles showed up at the office and told me he had ideas. So I listened and learned. I still apply those ideas today to our marketing strategy. He regarding his role as an advocate holistically, not only for the child he was assigned to, but for our organization as a whole. Every time he walked into my office I knew there was advice to be shared, and important advice. He has given me some of my soundest management tools I have. Karen and Charles are one of the best gifts the child welfare system could ever have been gifted.”

Your Number One Priority in the Field – Personal Safety

by Edward Marable
Case Supervisor

In 1979, I began doing “field work”, as the Credit Manager for a seedy furniture store in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Occasionally, I’d have to visit customers in their homes to secure their monthly payments or even repossess their furniture. As you can imagine, I was not well liked in the community.

Years later, I found myself in the exact same community, serving at-risk families as a caseworker for the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). Occasionally, I had to remove children from their homes. I would not say that I was well liked in the community then, either.

You see, the issue was never one of popularity. In my mind, no matter what hat you wear or what role you play, the issue is safety. Over the years, I’ve learned that the person most responsible for my personal safety, is me. Although it may sound selfish, I’ve also learned that no child, and no case is more important than my personal safety. I’ve learned to strike a balance.

Over the last forty years, I’ve never had a troubling incident in the field while doing my job. Just lucky? I think not. I’ve come to understand that there is inherent risk in everything we do. You can minimize risk and enhance your personal safety by following a few simple rules:

• Gain as much information as you can before embarking. Ask: What floor or apartment do you live on/in? Does your bell work? Do you have a dog?

• Don’t attract attention to yourself. Do you really need your wedding ring, purse, wallet, laptop, or briefcase to do this interview?

• Be polite and respectful to everyone you come in contact with. That doesn’t mean that you should feel obligated to break a five dollar bill for someone who asks.

• Leave nothing visible in your car. Take items of value and identification out of the glove box and arm rest in advance.

• Most importantly, follow your intuition. If the timing of a particular visit seems unsafe in your gut, reschedule and try another day.

This is not an exhaustive list of safety tips. Instead, it is designed to get you thinking about your number one priority in the field – your personal safety. As an organization, Passaic County CASA has an unblemished record of volunteer safety. If you are a CASA volunteer and you have safety concerns, you can certainly discuss them with your Case Supervisor. At the end of the day, however, the person most responsible for your safety is YOU.

Meet the CASA Staff: Ten Questions for Pam Saunders

Name: Pam Saunders
Title: Office And Financial Coordinator
CASA Employee Since: October 2016

1) What did you do before you worked at CASA?
I was a Paralegal and Office Manager for an environmental law firm in Parsippany.

2) Describe your job in five words.
Jack of all trades (plus!)

3) Can you describe what a typical day looks like for you?
I come in, I feed my fish, I count the money, I pay the bills, I work on events. I work on grants and maintain budgets. I make sure kids have what they need and that the office runs smoothly. I take out the trash. I do it all.

 4) What is the best part about working for CASA?
The staff.

5) What is the craziest/most unusual thing you’ve done in the name of serving children in foster care?
I once protected the office from an aggressive and unhappy goose.

6) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A florist. It is a happy, crafty job.

7) What is your go-to comfort food?
Cheese. All kinds.

8) What personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble?
My sarcasm.

9) What celebrity have people said you resemble or remind them of?
Roseanne.

10) If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three items would you bring?
A solar powered air conditioner, a lifetime supply of unsweetened iced tea, and an alpaca. The alpaca is for company, warmth, transportation, and food if things got dire enough.

Experience Meets Compassion: Marion Brady, CASA Volunteer of the Month

By Laura Warne
Communications Coordinator

Marion Brady has always been committed to volunteer service; giving back was instilled in her at a young age by her parents. However, as a self-professed “shy person,” speaking up and asserting herself while working on her CASA case was a challenge at first.

Now, with eight years of experience under her belt, Marion speaks confidently about how she approaches issues on her current and recent cases. As soon as she realizes a child is struggling in school, for example, she doesn’t hesitate to contact the child’s teachers and school special education team. She enjoys connecting with professionals who are equally committed to a child’s success, and appreciates the satisfaction of seeing people come together for the sake of a child.

Marion grew up in Baltimore and then earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard and the University of Toronto. Years later, Marion was a copy editor at a busy type-setting house, where she proofread French and Spanish translations for a variety of professional publications. Retirement was on the horizon when a friend mentioned that she was volunteering at CASA of Essex County, and shared with Marion that she’d be good at the CASA role. Marion channeled her love of children into training at the then-brand new Passaic County CASA and was sworn in in January 2011.

Since then, Marion has served on nine cases until completion. Her most recent case closed this past April, when a girl she was advocating for was adopted. Adoption days are always happy occasions, and this one was no exception. The joy of seeing a family officially come together is something Marion can personally attest to, as she adopted her own son through the NJ state system 46 years ago.

On her cases, Marion worked closely with the foster parents. She cites a deep appreciation for the challenges foster parents face when caring for their children. Between doctor appointments, therapists, school meetings, and all the other services a child might require, the demands these parents face can be significant. Thankfully, Marion is able to bring her considerable experience and compassion to each and every family, all with the end goal of protecting and promoting the best interest of children.