Struggling to overcome drug addiction and put her broken family back together, Katie Goodwin received a valuable piece of advice from a court appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer—”It is not where you’ve been, but it is where you are going.”
“I feel like there is such a stigma on drug addicts, and I have to smash that down because I don’t believe anybody wakes up in the morning and is like, ‘I’m gonna be a drug addict today.’ That stuff usually comes from years’ worth of untreated mental issues or brokenness in our own home,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin and her husband, Keith, struggled with substance abuse, which resulted in custody troubles with their first child.
A CASA was assigned to their case.
“Our CASA, John Train, the whole time that we were going through this process, even when we thought he was against us, he never once discouraged us,” said Goodwin. “He would speak life into us. He would say, ‘It is not where you’ve been but it is where you are going.’”
The Goodwins now have four children, all under 8. Katie spoke at CASA Day at the Statehouse on Tuesday.
“To all the CASA volunteers, do not grow weary. Don’t you grow weary,” Goodwin said.
A CASA volunteer is an advocate in court for children who are experiencing cases of abuse or neglect. They spend their time getting to know the child, advocating for their needs and presenting their best interests to the judge.
On Tuesday, state legislators, community leaders and advocates met at the Indiana Statehouse to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Indiana Office of Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) and CASA. Volunteers from across the state gathered to raise awareness about the work being done to advocate for youth across Indiana.
GAL/CASA and Kid’s Voice of Indiana hosted the event, andx Indiana Supreme Court Justice Loretta Rush spoke at it. She said she began her judicial career by helping establish Tippecanoe County’s CASA program in 1998. Back then, Rush was newly elected as Tippecanoe Superior Court judge.
“This is hard work, it wears on your soul, but there is no better work. When I’m done, I’m going to go back and join the CASA program. I will be a CASA,” said Rush.
Rush said last year the state had CASA programs in 87 counties and advocated for almost 200,000 children.
With so many kids to care for and a shortage in volunteers, Rush and other leaders at the event encouraged those in the audience to spread the word about the importance of being a CASA.
“I think it’s a scary thing for a lot of people to enter into the hardest part of a family’s life whenever they’re going through a crisis and think, ‘How can I do any good? I’m afraid I’ll mess it up, I’ll say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing,’” said Sarah Reis, executive director for Vanderburgh County CASA.
“We can, in some ways, color outside of the lines. DCS has so many rules that they have to follow, and they try their hardest and do the best they can. But we have a bit more freedom in what we can ask for because we are representing the child’s wellbeing and their best interest.”
Reis stated that there are 787 kids on the waiting list for a CASA in Vanderburgh County alone.
“People don’t have to be lawyers or teachers or nurses. We welcome people from all walks of life and walk hand in hand with them through their cases so they are never alone,” Reis said.
A case of hope
Nurse Katrine Mullen said she felt an “instant connection” with teen mother Shariya Small after attending to her premature triplets in the NICU in 2020. Small and Mullen stayed in touch after her discharge from the hospital, making frequent calls and visits to Mullen’s house.
When Small’s lack of support led to the chance of her babies being removed from her and placed in foster care, Mullen knew it was her turn to step up.
At CASA Day, Mullen spoke about the importance of adoption and the role a court appointed special advocate played in bringing Small and Mullen together.
“I saw a fire in this girl (Small), and she was just a light, but she had no support,” Mullen said. “I was contacted by a case worker who said, ‘Shariya wants to come and live with you’, and I sat for about 10 seconds, and I said, ‘OK.’ …
“I think adoption should be viewed differently. I actually was a teen mom myself when I was 16, and I gave my son up for adoption. So my life came full circle.”
Small said on Tuesday that she now has goals of opening a nonprofit homeless shelter for victims of domestic abuse and a safe place for teen mothers.
CASA volunteers
When he was 21, Aravind Harber began volunteering as a CASA.
He told TheStatehouseFile.com that he learned about the program in high school and was interested because he wanted to pursue a career in law.
Harber currently works in Indianapolis and said he has enjoyed helping children in the CASA community.
“It’s been a really wonderful experience getting to know new people and just getting to help kids,” he said. “I’m glad I could be that voice for the kids.”
Harber’s first case just closed.
Peggy Johnson, a CASA volunteer of Indianapolis, said she has been volunteering since 2009. After her children finished school, Johnson began researching ways to give back, which was when she learned about the CASA program.
“Being able to help someone get further in their life than where they were, give them, you know, more opportunities, more things to look at as options for their life,” Johnson said. “I feel good when I help people, so it’s kind of a win-win on both ends.”
Brandi Rodriguez, a volunteer from Columbus, said she is a CASA to be there for the kids in ways that the Department of Child Services may not be able to.
“No one is there advocating just for the children. And so that is our role, to get to know the kids and their needs and advocate for that in the court,” Rodriguez said.
To Rodriguez, a key component of a CASA’s job is reducing the length of a case so kids can be reunited with their families.
“That’s our goal,” she said, “for the kids to be back with their parents.”
Since 2020, Rodriguez has advocated for 10 kids.
Elizabeth Dunlap first volunteered with CASA in the early 1990s when her daughter was a toddler. She took 30 years off to be a teacher and returned to CASA after she retired from the classroom five years ago.
Dunlap is a staff advocate, so she is paid for her work, but has a larger case load than most volunteers. She said she has worked with about 30 children over the past five years.
Advocacy is important to Dunlap because she said the kids need someone who is willing to build a relationship with them during their case.
“You start talking with the child and say, ‘Is there anything you would like the judge to know?’” she said. “I had one child tell me, ‘Yes, I want you to tell the judge that I’m behaving and getting better grades.’ … They come to learn that you are actually representing them, … you care about them.”
Like Rodriguez, Dunlap works to move kids into stabler situations and said she cares for them more deliberately than government organizations have the means to.
“Hopefully that moves the case closer to permanence,” Dunlap said. “You don’t want the children lingering in chaos, wondering, … ‘Who is going to love me, take care of me?’”
To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer, visit this site: https://www.in.gov/courts/iocs/galcasa/volunteer/
