Alyssah Hall
The nonprofit organization Voices for Children (VFC) aids in the lives of neglected foster care youth in Riverside and San Diego counties by equipping them with trained, volunteer court appointed special advocates (CASAs).
Founded in 1980, VFC has recently put out an urgent call for the need of CASA volunteers in Riverside County to speak up for the overall well being of children in foster care. As of June, new data pulled from the VFC team estimates 182 children are on the waitlist for a CASA in Riverside County.
Riverside County Managing Director for Voices for Children, Sharon Morris, shared that there is a specific need for more male, bilingual, and/or African American CASA volunteers to serve the diverse group of kids they support. CASA volunteers are appointed by a judge to advocate for a child or sibling group in court, foster care, school, and the community to ensure their needs are met. In 2025, VFC CASAs and staff served direct advocacy to over 2,300 youth in foster care across San Diego and Riverside Counties, and also provided case-monitoring services to hundreds of other children in foster care who would possibly need an advocate in the future.
The job of the CASA is to get to know the child or children one-on-one, build a trusting relationship with them and learn about their needs and hopes. The CASA is required to meet with their assigned foster youth at least once a month or at maximum once a week. Every six months, the CASA will write a detailed court report to the judge that presides over the child’s case to help them make the best decision for that child’s future.
“It’s really just the giving of their time to a child to let them be a child, and we advise that they should do low-cost or free activities. Go to a park. Eat is a great place. Kids love to eat. There is a very strict spending limit on a visit, so it’s $25 for a child. We do not reimburse that, but we don’t want these outings to be about the money spent, we want it to be about the time that you give to the child,” Morris said. “So many of our kids have been like, ‘I would never have gone hiking if it wasn’t for my CASA,’ going on a bike ride, taking the dog for a walk, whatever it may be.”
Morris shared that while the social workers of these foster youth do a great job, they don’t have enough time to get to know the kid in terms of what they need to thrive rather than just exist. According to Morris, the volunteer gets to do fun activities with the kid and learn about who they are, what they love, what they want to be when they grow up, talk to their teachers to see how they are doing in school and if they need anything.
A core part of the CASA role is to help establish and strengthen a lifetime network of relatives, family friends, and other committed adults who can help the child and their parents during their involvement with foster care and beyond. Their goal is to increase the chance of parent and child reunification as long as it is safe and possible. If reunification is not an option, then they advocate for the child to live with another relative or family friend. The CASA can also advocate for the child to be put in a loving adoptive home.
According to VFC, an estimate of 3,500 children will spend time in foster care in San Diego County and about 5,000 children will spend time in foster care in Riverside County after experiencing neglect or abuse. VFC needs more volunteers, particularly male, bilingual in English and Spanish and African American to ensure a trained CASA is provided to every abandoned, abused or neglected child who needs one. Morris shared that women tend to step forward as CASAs, however 50% of their foster youth are boys.
“The person who makes the referral, and it can be anybody – it can be the child themselves, the judge, the attorney, the social worker, the teacher, anyone can call us and say this kid needs a CASA. When they do that, we say, please tell us what you really think would be the best CASA match,” Morris said.
“Sometimes with the boys, they’ll say, ‘well, I really think that he could use a male advocate because he’s been abused by women, or he’s only ever lived with women, or he doesn’t open up to women,’ and because of that, boys wait longer,” Morris continued.
Morris shared the reason for the need of CASAs who are Bilingual in English and Spanish is due to them serving some families whose first language is Spanish. She believes that the families would do much better understanding the system and navigating it if they had a CASA who could help them and explain what exactly is going on.
Originally from England, Morris was inspired to volunteer after becoming a U.S. citizen and seeing a video of former President Barack Obama encouraging new citizens to give back to the community. Morris became a CASA in San Diego for five years to two Black children—who are now in their twenties—that she remains in contact with till this day.
Morris, who is white, remembers advocating to a judge for her assigned Black little girl, telling them that she needs special products for her hair, someone who understands her hair type and hairdresser appointments. Morris understood that even though she was the best CASA she could be for her children, and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, there were some cultural differences she wouldn’t ever be able to understand. Morris feels that an African American CASA could better help Black foster youth with self esteem and cultural understanding.
“[CASA] volunteering changed my life. I had never volunteered, until I became a citizen, and the president said you should do it, and I did it. It changed my life. I think it is so good for the soul. I think it puts things in perspective. I don’t sweat small stuff anymore,” Morris said.
To learn more about the work of CASA volunteers and how to get involved, visit speakupnow.org.
This article was updated for clarity on 6-17-26.