CASA needs Latinos to help kids

By Rosanne Lewis

Dallas CASA needs more bilingual Spanish-speaking volunteers to serve children who have been victims of abuse or neglect and are living in foster care. Latinos represent 55 percent of the child population in Dallas County and 34 percent of children removed from unsafe homes, but only 13 percent of Dallas CASA volunteers are Latino. For a child who speaks Spanish or has grown up in a Hispanic household, foster care can be an especially lonely and frightening place when there is a language and cultural barrier. A Dallas CASA volunteer who is bilingual can not only bring comfort to the child but foster better and more timely communication with parties on the case leading to better long-term outcomes for children and their families. Dallas CASA is hosting an event on Thursday, Oct. 26 from 6-7:30 p.m. to recruit more Latinos.

Guests speakers will include Juan Nevarez, executive vice president at Scout Energy Partners, and Amanda Paredes, senior brand supervisor at The Infinite Agency. Nevarez and Paredes will share their experiences as Dallas CASA volunteers and how being able to speak Spanish and understand the culture has allowed them a closer connection with families and children they are assigned to advocate for.

Dallas CASA serves children and families of all cultures, abilities, identities and backgrounds. The agency is committed to advocating for the best interest of all children in the foster care system and providing each child with the highest quality volunteer advocacy possible. To meet this goal, Dallas CASA strives to recruit volunteers of diverse backgrounds so that our volunteers can reflect the diversity of children in the child welfare system. To register, email to Nancy Nevarez at [email protected]. 

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