April 7, 2025 • 30 mins
"Dauphin County CASA-Court Appointed Special Advocates, have changed the stories of many abused and neglected children in the foster care system every single day. Find out about the importance of your support. " www.dauphincountycasa.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Sylvia Laws, and this is inside a presentation
of iHeartMedia, where we really do care about our local
communities and all our listeners who live here. For most
nonprofit organizations, volunteers are really important. But for the organization
we're going to talk about today, their volunteers are not
just the engine that drives them. It's not even the
(00:20):
catalyst for incredible change, and certainly does not just it
is not just the heart that inspires them. The volunteer
advocates at Dauphin County costser are all of these things
and so much more. If you're not familiar with Dauphin
County Costa, I promise you that by the end of
this program today, you'll be telling everybody you know about
how their volunteers have changed the stories of so many
(00:41):
abused children in our area, and hopefully you'll be anxious
to become one of their truly dedicated volunteers as well
as we begin. The first thing that I insist that
you know about that if it weren't for this remarkable woman,
and I know she's sitting there and she's like, Sylvia, quide,
don't say that stuff, but there would be no Dolphin
(01:02):
County cost of if it won for judge Lorie Sarah Telly.
She is Coossa's founding mother and former board member, and
along with Lori, is the executive director of Dauphin County
Castle Will Foster and Ladies and Gentlemen. It's Douphin County's
newest volunteer advocate. Casey Weaver, I love it when you
(01:22):
guys come in. I don't know who's doing all your
what's what I'm looking for putting you out there? Who's
branding you? But they're doing a heck of a job
because I never saw a nonprofit organization since I've been
doing this almost one hundred years that has jumping out
at people as much as you guys do well. First
thing I want to ask if for people who don't
(01:44):
know who you are, you are supporting or providing service.
I don't want to say services your volunteers do that
you're supporting abused and neglected kids in the Dauphin County
Foster Care program. Tell us what cost say is and
how the kids are chosen.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So yeah, Kasa Kasa kids or the youth are kids
that are coming that have been removed from their homes.
And are placed into Children Youth Services care and they're
they're really trying to find a way to be safe
in their home, and if that is not being back
with their parents, they are going to hopefully have another
(02:23):
permanent solution with a foster family, or hopefully they don't
age out of the system, but they find some independence
on their own when they get a little older. Now,
our program comes in and advocates for these children using
volunteers and basically they're appointed by a judge and then
they follow this child or youth until.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
They find their permanent solution.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And the kids that come to us are coming to
us from referrals through like the court system, Children and
Youth Services. We actually have a really strong partnership with
them and they identify a lot of kids that could
use a lot of extra could use an extra set
of eyes and ears.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You know, Judge Laurie, as I said, if it weren't
for her, there would be Dolphin County. Costa Lourie. I
want to ask you, first of all, before Kasa, what
happened to these kids you must have been I mean,
if I were the judge, I'd be born all the time.
How can I help these chim But what happens.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Before COSA came to Dolphin County there was a large,
large number of children of foster care, almost six hundred
back in twenty fourteen, and mistakes were being made, children
were being missed. There was a horrible situation in twenty
fourteen where a child died even though they were in
(03:40):
care with children in youth, because the caseworker had no
time to put her eyes on.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
That child because they have so many other kids. Right, yes, okay,
that that.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Was it for me. When that type of situation develops,
I so we have to do something to bring CASA
to Dauphin County. I trained in Cumberland County where they
had a program for twenty years or more. Your counties
had one for thirty plus years. It is fairly widespread
now in Pennsylvania thanks to PIACOSA, the statewide organization that
(04:13):
develops programs. We have twenty one serving with almost thirty
or so counties.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Thirty two counties, thirty two counties and they're sixty seven.
So those have to be taken. So what are they
doing sharing the services?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yes, the smaller counties with smaller caseloans share It just
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So let me ask you this. You just decided that's it,
and you went home and you told your husband that's it.
I'm going to do this.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I did, and he supported me. But I didn't do
it alone. There is a nice thanks to Neil McCormick.
Abamb did a wonderful Founding Mothers series. It's on Facebook
right now. So I did have the help of three
wonderful women I met in Cumberland County who were training
(04:59):
there because there was no program in Dauphin County that
would be Judy Best Kid, Sarah Pierce and Enjoy Gross.
So the four of us, we call ourselves the Founding Mothers,
took years of lobbying the court, lobbying anyone who would
listen to us.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Why why something's as basic as this.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Why some court systems at that time they felt they
had it under control, They felt they had the caseworkers,
They felt that it wasn't broken. I felt it was broken. Yeah,
And now I think all the judges who have presided
over dependency court, Judge Cherry, Judge Morris, Judge McNally, they
(05:42):
all sing the praises of COSS and don't know what
they did without us. So I'm just so thrilled.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I can imagine, Well, tell us both you and what
are some of the things you're talking about? These kids
that are in neglect and abuse and children have died.
What is typical, like someone reports them or could it
be somebody on the streets. I would imagine they had
those what do they call the what is it designated
mandated reports? Those are doctors and coaches, anybody that notices
(06:12):
the kids. What happens after someone reports them?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So what ends up happening is they get the referral
goes into the Children in Youth, and then Children Youth
has its like very complex system to filter out whether
or not they need to give this family resources or
if you know, simplify it to take them out of
the home and make sure that they're safe. So from there,
(06:35):
these kids are then going to be placed in a
safe place, whether it's a foster home or a group home,
depending on where they're at. But it's really truly a
very complex situation. I mean, the kids that are coming
out of these homes are not coming I mean, you
said typical, but there's nothing typical about any one of
these cases. I mean, they're all very different and even
(06:56):
though they have similar issues going on, whether it's some
sort of sub and shoes or I mean, and we're
in Harrisburg, so there's a lot of human trafficking going on.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, people don't want to know that.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah. No, people don't want to know that.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And quite frankly, even from an advocate standpoint, we can
suspect it, but we can't diagnose what the problem is.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
We can just kind of keep an eye in ear.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And be like, Okay, that's an unsafe situation, so we're
going to make sure that that child stays away from
that situation as best we can.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Well, when you go into the homes to get these
children out, typically do the parents, is there any issue
with them? Are they're willing to give their children to
somebody from the courts or what I mean, what have
you found, Laurie, What do you know about that?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
It all begins with Usually, like you said, a mandated
reporter calls in someone at the hospital, at the school,
they see something is wrong, there's an emergency hearing, and
the court will decide whether they should be removed from
the family, So the cossa gets involved after that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
After that, usually yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
So the parents, they are still involved. They haven't lost
their parental rights yet, they have up to twenty two
months or more to try and correct whatever caused the separation.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And what might that be. In some cases, would they
have if it is an issue of drug and alcohol abuse,
would they have to go to programs like that or
what usually happens?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Absolutely, yeah, they So the court will mandate the parents
to like usually get a psychological evaluation and kind of
determine what the next best steps are for them and
really try to give.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Dauphin County specifically I can talk.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
They really do try to provide the parents every resource
that they need to be successful. So whether that's giving
them a referral to a parenting class or giving them
a referral to drug and alcohol counseling, they do their
best to make sure that those parents have what they need.
And sometimes the parents will fight it and for whatever
(08:50):
reason they don't go along with it, and then eventually
they'll either lose the right to their child because they've
there's a law that says fifteen out of twenty two months,
then the parents can lose the rights if the kids
been in care that long. That being said, parents have
held on to the rights for kids for much longer
than that.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
I mean, we've our.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Average case closes our child says our advocates stay on
case for about two and a half years. And there
are some cases that we've had that one actually just
finished up. There was a sibling group of ten and
all ten of them have now found a permanent solution.
But it took it was from day one of our
program until last month actually this month, and it took
(09:35):
a long time for them to go through this. And
you just never know what you're going to get when
with these kiddos, and how.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Long it's going to take.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Well, you know something I've always wondered, you know how
in domestic violence, how if it's not changes, the next
generation is going to repeat it? And well people have
I've told people about it, and they think they don't
believe it. Domestic violence isn't poor people that don't have
any money. It's the big shots. It's the doctors, almost say,
(10:04):
lawyers and Indian cheese. It's people you wouldn't suspect, it's
police officers, it's all kinds of people out there. Do
you find that same case with abused children when you're
going to get them, are they from what would you
say hire socioeconomic families or they typically people go ahead
one of them.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Yeah, I mean they come from the suburbs, they come
from the northern tier, they come from the city.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean we really do see them from all all
walks of life coming through our doors. Unfortunately, and it's
the thing is, none, none of the major societal issues
escape anybody. The mental health, the substance use of domestic violence, poverty,
all it doesn't really get to escape anybody. It could
be your neighbor, it could be a family member. And
(10:51):
I've had some calls like, hey, I think my family
members in this. Can you find anything out for me.
I'm like, oh, that's confidential, probably not, but you know,
we'll see what we can do to support.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
I want to ask you, Laurie. I was going to
ask you the leader part of the program, but because
you've been involved in the court system for so long
and what you've done in the other ladies have done,
this is to me is like, oh boy, this is
like watching a movie on TV and you're waiting for
the guy in the white horse to come and things
keep happening and happening and happening, and all of a sudden,
the guy. He's there and he's like at the top
(11:23):
of the hill, and Yay, that's what you've done for
children in Dauphin County and the court system. What I
want to ask you is, when you look back over there,
over this, what has been accomplished? How do you feel
Do you ever think, Oh, dear God, what if I
didn't push this, or what if I tell me about that?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It amazes me every day I pinched myself. I know
it took a long time to convince people, but once
they were convinced twenty nineteen, we took off like fire.
We are on our eleventh swearing in program. We're almost
up to fifty I'll what will brag about it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Bag, Oh my gosh, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Humble bragg.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
We're going to have forty seven volunteers coming in by
the end of the swearing in, which is happening on
the tenths.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Holy don't seven. It's only been a couple of years
that you've gotten hary manny, and you had a big
surrige earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Right, Yeah, I mean honestly, when we had our last
fundraiser or the giving tree over over Christmas, we had
like twenty five volunteers come forward to inquire. Now, out
of that twenty five, we had about fifteen fill out
an application, and out of that fifteen, we have twelve
that are able to make it work.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh my gosh. And another thing about this is this
isn't something that you have to constantly be there. You
have to you become like like you're the shadow. The
advocate is more like the shadow of this kid and
make sure everything is going the way it should be.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Can you explain since you brought that up? And I
want to talk more about that too, since you brought
up the giving tree up and everything, we'll talk about
the what it was. You should have a giving tree.
Let's have an easier giving tree. Yes, but these causes.
If somebody when they came up to you, what did
they want to know them?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
After you told them what you did? What was their response?
I guess it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
But the great thing is a lot of people that
are coming through our door actually have done their research
and already know who we are, and then we just
kind of give them the nitty gritty and so like
I think, I mean, maybe Casey would be a better
one to tell me better, But I mean We have
some amazing people that have found us and are willing
to go through and be that eyes and ears for
(13:38):
the court, the shadow of the child, and really make
sure that everything's working the way they're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Casey, you're coming. Your job is coming up real real soon.
You're gonna be sworn in. When's that gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
That's gonna happened on Thursday the tenth.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Okay, what is it that drew you to this?
Speaker 5 (13:55):
So one of my jobs that I was working was
within foster care, Okay, And I got to work with
ACASA with one of my families, and I just really
enjoyed the work and she and I got to talk,
and then I moved on to a different job and
I told myself, I was like, you know, I want
to do some more research about that, and you know,
it kind of passed. And then just recently I saw
(14:16):
something that they were looking for classes for Dauphin County
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to
take this as a sign and I'm going to apply.
And I'm so happy and grateful that I did, and
I can't wait to get started.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
What's the criteria?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Will you have to be twenty one years or older.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Okay, you have to be able to pass all the
major background checks, and you have to have the time
of flexibility to be able to go through the training,
which is thirty to forty hours, and also be able
to have that time to effectively advocate for your child
while they're in the system. So you know, typically it's
ten to fifteen hours a month. Some kiddos are a
little less. They're more I would call a maintenance mode
(14:53):
where everything's running smooth and that you just kind of
have to keep eyes on them and make sure everything's
still good. But some are more like a part time
job and you're really actively talking with their case team
a couple of times a week or checking in with
them at least once a week. I mean, the minimum
standard to see your kidos once a month, but our
volunteers they go above and beyond where they can.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I can imagine. I can imagine, Well, you were talking
about what's required over them and everything, but there's also
training required, and I want to talk that's not cheap,
and you know, seriously, that's that's one of your biggest expenses.
And people know about nonprofits things like that that pay
for programs grants do, but things like that they don't.
So what what type of training is it? Can you
(15:39):
talk about what? Like what casey maybe you can answer
this like what was their training life? You tell us
about that.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
So the training cover like a variety of different topics
from domestic violence, mental health, children in the system. We
had guest speakers come, we had a GL come, and
it was just all inclusive of the things that we're
going to kind of run into, but then also you know,
it's also things that you don't expect to see. So
(16:07):
I think they did a good job of making that connection.
And for me, I work within the social services, so
it was nice to be able to make those connections.
And I think that the training, like I said, it
just really covered a lot of different things. So I
feel prepared, but also you know, there's also things that
I can't prepare for. But overall, I think the training
cover things that I should be prepared for. And we
(16:28):
also discussed a lot too about the team that we
have to lean on, so we'll have will that we
can lean on, all the other costes that we'll be
able to lean on as well, even within the case
workers and the GL. So just learning how to use
the resources that you have and not being alone within
this because you know, it is a fight for the children.
So it's like just use all those people available to
(16:48):
you to kind of advocate for them and figure out
what it is that you need and work as a team.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I often wonder why people like police departments don't have
somebody go along with them when they have to go
into us situation like that, And found out a couple
of years ago Frank Chartero has he knew how to
handle that too, And you're doing a lot of that too.
They better they better know about mental health issues too, right,
which is the biggest issue in this country.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yep, yeah, I mean we are are our volunteers. I mean,
the training gives you a broad overview of what they're
going to expect.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Right, There's only so much.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean, mental health alone is literally a doctorate degree, right,
like you have to There's so much that could be
involved in that, and the abuse and the domestic violence.
I mean, there are people that make careers out of
this stuff, and I'm asking a volunteer to be at
least somewhat versed in.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
It so that they can effectively advocate for it.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And so we we only graize the surface with what
we can, but we do it in a way that
is supportive, real, but hopefully not too scary.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
No, I don't see you being too scary. Well questions
i'd go to you. Well, after this training is done with,
then what happens? She goes through her swearing and then
she waits for some do you match like I've heard
about another organization that mentor's children. They match the personality
with the job. But at that point, if you're going
into a sticky situation to begin with, you really don't
(18:14):
have time to decide what kasa goes with what child.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well, the nice thing is we're not in an emergent situation, okay,
I mean our volunteers are coming in after the emergency
has already kind of been put out for the most Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
But that being said, we do have work.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
We work really closely with children and youth and the
process that we've started doing a couple classes ago, even
was meeting with the managers, meeting with the caseworkers and
really trying to understand each of the kiddos that they're
referring to us. So then while we are going through training,
I mean we spent forty hours in the training that
we spent two hours before that with an interview, and
(18:49):
they've spent another hour on top of that doing an
information session, and so by the time they get done
with the training, we're basically best friends.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Casey, I don't know if anyone said that to you yet,
but she told.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Me she doesn't see you that way.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, well, that's okay, that's okay. She'll figure it out sometimes,
but they all do. They all figured it out at
some point. But realistically, though, like we've we've gotten to
know them over a very long course of time, and
that allows us to understand what they're comfortable with, what
they're not comfortable with, and we do our best. We
(19:22):
do do our best to match them with a kiddo
that they're going to be comfortable with. I know that's
I've said comfortable a lot, but it's important because it's
a very uncomfortable, oh yeah, feel that they're walking into
and so we have to do our best to support them.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Well, we're talking about the training, everything they go through
and everything, but typically what are they doing with the kids?
They're shadowing, not I don't want to say shadow. Is
that in appropriate word? You use for this shadowing, like
did they go to the school? Do they you know,
how does this work? Giving me some examples of what
the responsibilities would be. I know it's all individual life,
depending on the child, but sure.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
But generally speaking though, I mean, our volunteers are keeping
track of like their educational needs.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, so some of.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Our volunteers actually with all of the things that are needed,
and with a kiddo there are, their education is really
important and sometimes their case team, if the parents aren't
involved anymore, they needed the court needs to decide an
educational decision maker, and our volunteers actually will take that
role on. And that's been a huge thing for some
(20:22):
of our kiddos that get who have ips every year
the education plans, making sure that they are getting the
tutoring and extra support that they need to learn. And
we also come with the lens of these kiddos probably
are struggling not because of the material, but because of
everything else. Yeah, exactly, so we do a lot to
help support them in that regard.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
But I mean we're also keeping track.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
We have a volunteer that literally has gone to almost
every medical appointment. You know, it's one of my favorite volunteers.
I don't have favorites, Casey, I don't have favorites, but
he goes above and beyond. He's a med student, so
like he's like really well versed. And even children in
youth is like, if you're able to be there, we
would appreciate what you what you hear so that we
(21:07):
can make sure that we're making the best decisions, because
you know, they have to be able to justify to
the court whatever happens to this child.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I remember how long you in this role.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Now, since twenty twenty three, so about two years.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, and I've seen peak changes in this organization even
since he's been You are, Laurie, you want to talk
about that?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Oh? Yeah, our staff has grown. We have a program supervisor,
Kim Saint Clair. We now have a part time assistant
to Kim Rachel Farzan. We are we have an office administrator.
We are moving to new digs. We're moving. Yeah, mentioned
(21:48):
the address that we're moving to.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, Well, we'll be actually moving up the street a
little bit more. We're going to forty three oh nine
Lingles Town Road.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Oh that's not far from here, not far at all.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
And it's uh, I mean we want we went from
a two two ish office, uh less than a thousand
square feet to the office we're in now. But I
mean the new one we're gonna be able to stay
in for a while because it's it's going to be
just big enough for us to be able to expand
four offices.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
It's going to have its own cleaning, training classroom.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Oh yeah, that's great. You don't have to pay for that.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, I mean, and quite frankly, Judge Sarah Telly here
has been such a great benefactor, even from a support
a program support standpoint.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I mean, we use her.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
We've used her conference room pretty much for every training
since I've started, and it's been it's been a long journey,
but I think we're finally getting to not need her
as much and become.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Say that to somebody who's the mother of this organization.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
We're trying to lean off of Judge here, you know,
but you know we we have We've always appreciated all
of her support.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
But yeah, she's wonderful. There are no words, how about it, Laurie,
can you I guess I could ask will this to
either one of you? What sticks out in your mind
of life couple of years there's a certain situation that
really makes you feel like you were worried about that kid,
and oh my god, how things have turned around with
don't really identifying the kid. Like, give us an example
that situation that's that encourages you to continue with this organization.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
I think the one that took five years.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, I mean though he uh so young young and
started in the in the in the system, probably about
five ish years old and big sibling group, one of
the only ones to not be adopted by either a
family member or otherwise. And then he spent like half
(23:40):
his time, half his years in some sort of hospital setting.
Within the last year he had found a foster home
that became an adoptive home, which then became his permanent home.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
And I like, super incredible, wonderful to see him thrive.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I mean from the time he walked into that that
foster placement, So he's a completely different kid. Before he
was like constantly testing people about like with his bad
behavior and like, and he wasn't really he wasn't doing
well in classroom setting, and like now he's thriving in school.
He's got foster parents that are incredibly patient with him,
(24:18):
and they he had some medication issues throughout the hospital
stays and now he's on like two or three in
verses like ten and it's it's it's it's incredible to
see this, this young man's transformation and eleven.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
He's only eleven years old and he's been going.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Through all this.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Oh God, bless yes, he has been through more than
most adults will have gone through in their oh oh
my god.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
But the KASA signed to him with them, stuck with
him the whole time.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You hear that, Casey, I have a feeling about you.
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the funding that
you do need with KASA is to pay for this training,
which is the vital part of what you do for thevolunteers.
You have an event that I've been to we just
wonderfolks called Once upon a Time, and it's on just
a couple of weeks away. Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
We're very excited to do the third one Once upon Time.
We're calling it Chapter three, and it's going to be
at the Colonial Golf and Tennis Club right up the
street from here as well, okay, and we'll have child
actors there kind of exemplifying what it's like to have
gone through this year, we're kind of taking a slightly
different approach. In years past, it was the journey that
(25:29):
a child goes through, but we're going to hit them.
We're going to start with what it was like to
be a child before child protective laws, and then it's
going to be what it's like with a cost of
volunteer now.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And these are young actors who are familiar with the
system and they know all about how a child would
feel that way. And you walk because I loved it.
You walk around, you talk to these different kids and
it's like it's like you're talking to the actual child.
They're that good at what they're doing. And they tell
you their story and I can remember the one kid said,
I didn't do anything wrong and my heart's breaken and
(26:06):
I forget the kids an actor. It's really touching. It
is very touching about it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, there they were. They were phenomenal and we with
a new year. Our friend David z Ayaz of the program.
He was our director for the last couple of years.
He's also attended every training as a done domestic violence
training for our volunteers, and uh he's he was unable
to do it this year to other due to other commitments,
(26:32):
but he referred us to another phenomenal director, playwright Francesca
and Monolia, and I'm super excited to see where she
takes us this year. But then we'll have our silent auction,
and we're actually making a twist this year.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
With the silent auction.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We're also adding a raffle in addition to that, So
if you're not comfortable with some of the auction items
that bidding on those, then we will have tickets in
hand and you can.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Just place a ticket by a sleep of tickets and
then watch.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Just diamond necklace you're going to be given away.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Oh yeah. Mounts Jewelers for the second time has given
a beautiful infinity white diamond.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I know what you're talking about, Ellie.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
The seven hundred and fifty dollars almost They've been wonderful,
a wonderful supporter. We also have a beautiful baroque pearl
necklace made and donated by char mcgaro. Lots of baskets
with themes. I'm making one since I'm Italian, I put
together a wine pasta basket. Hopefully that will bring something in.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Oh yeah, I'll be betting on that one. I want
that sounds good to me. Who is this queen and
joy too? You have a she's a she an entertainer.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Absolutely, she's one of She She actually performed at our
first event and she did such a phenomenal job and
we decided to ask her to come back again this year.
She's a pianist, beautiful vocalist. She comes in and does
very lovely music throughout the evening where we're just super
excited to have her come in and play.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Let me wrap this up quickly by telling our folks
that you also have three nights stay at Margueriteville, Margaritaville
and Nashville Signature's Drinks of Dessert for all kinds of
fun things. And Bobby Hower, my buddy, Bobby Howard's going
to be the mc oh boy. I couldn't go without
mentioning him. How do we get tickets?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Well, you just go to our website Dauphincuntycosta dot org
and right on the homepage you should be able to
see your purchase ticket button and you click it and
off you go.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
One more time. What's the day? How do you get there?
It's what It starts at six in the evening. It's
only a couple of hours. It's really nice.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
It goes fast, it goes really fast.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So we're April twenty fourth, from six o'clock to eight pm.
You can go to our website again, Dauphincountycosta dot org
to buy your ticket. It'll be a great time at
Colonial Golf and Tennis Club. And really we just look
forward to seeing anyone who's willing to come out.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And I look forward to seeing you guys. Honest to god,
every time I find out you're coming in, I'm like,
oh yeah, yeah, yeah, They've done so much. And the
thing about you, guys is you're sincere. You're not doing
this because it's a jock, because you know how it
is a nonprofit. You don't getting paid a lot. You're
doing it because you have somebody liked Lorie, who was
the inspiration. So thanks so much for that. And remember
(29:14):
to catch Insight every Sunday and one of our ten
iHeart stations are on your favorite podcast app. I'm Sylvia Moss.
This has been Insight. Thanks so much for listening. See
you next week.
Hi, I'm Sylvia Laws, and this is inside a presentation
of iHeartMedia, where we really do care about our local
communities and all our listeners who live here. For most
nonprofit organizations, volunteers are really important. But for the organization
we're going to talk about today, their volunteers are not
just the engine that drives them. It's not even the
(00:20):
catalyst for incredible change, and certainly does not just it
is not just the heart that inspires them. The volunteer
advocates at Dauphin County costser are all of these things
and so much more. If you're not familiar with Dauphin
County Costa, I promise you that by the end of
this program today, you'll be telling everybody you know about
how their volunteers have changed the stories of so many
(00:41):
abused children in our area, and hopefully you'll be anxious
to become one of their truly dedicated volunteers as well
as we begin. The first thing that I insist that
you know about that if it weren't for this remarkable woman,
and I know she's sitting there and she's like, Sylvia, quide,
don't say that stuff, but there would be no Dolphin
(01:02):
County cost of if it won for judge Lorie Sarah Telly.
She is Coossa's founding mother and former board member, and
along with Lori, is the executive director of Dauphin County
Castle Will Foster and Ladies and Gentlemen. It's Douphin County's
newest volunteer advocate. Casey Weaver, I love it when you
(01:22):
guys come in. I don't know who's doing all your
what's what I'm looking for putting you out there? Who's
branding you? But they're doing a heck of a job
because I never saw a nonprofit organization since I've been
doing this almost one hundred years that has jumping out
at people as much as you guys do well. First
thing I want to ask if for people who don't
(01:44):
know who you are, you are supporting or providing service.
I don't want to say services your volunteers do that
you're supporting abused and neglected kids in the Dauphin County
Foster Care program. Tell us what cost say is and
how the kids are chosen.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So yeah, Kasa Kasa kids or the youth are kids
that are coming that have been removed from their homes.
And are placed into Children Youth Services care and they're
they're really trying to find a way to be safe
in their home, and if that is not being back
with their parents, they are going to hopefully have another
(02:23):
permanent solution with a foster family, or hopefully they don't
age out of the system, but they find some independence
on their own when they get a little older. Now,
our program comes in and advocates for these children using
volunteers and basically they're appointed by a judge and then
they follow this child or youth until.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
They find their permanent solution.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And the kids that come to us are coming to
us from referrals through like the court system, Children and
Youth Services. We actually have a really strong partnership with
them and they identify a lot of kids that could
use a lot of extra could use an extra set
of eyes and ears.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You know, Judge Laurie, as I said, if it weren't
for her, there would be Dolphin County. Costa Lourie. I
want to ask you, first of all, before Kasa, what
happened to these kids you must have been I mean,
if I were the judge, I'd be born all the time.
How can I help these chim But what happens.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Before COSA came to Dolphin County there was a large,
large number of children of foster care, almost six hundred
back in twenty fourteen, and mistakes were being made, children
were being missed. There was a horrible situation in twenty
fourteen where a child died even though they were in
(03:40):
care with children in youth, because the caseworker had no
time to put her eyes on.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
That child because they have so many other kids. Right, yes, okay,
that that.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Was it for me. When that type of situation develops,
I so we have to do something to bring CASA
to Dauphin County. I trained in Cumberland County where they
had a program for twenty years or more. Your counties
had one for thirty plus years. It is fairly widespread
now in Pennsylvania thanks to PIACOSA, the statewide organization that
(04:13):
develops programs. We have twenty one serving with almost thirty
or so counties.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Thirty two counties, thirty two counties and they're sixty seven.
So those have to be taken. So what are they
doing sharing the services?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yes, the smaller counties with smaller caseloans share It just
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
So let me ask you this. You just decided that's it,
and you went home and you told your husband that's it.
I'm going to do this.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I did, and he supported me. But I didn't do
it alone. There is a nice thanks to Neil McCormick.
Abamb did a wonderful Founding Mothers series. It's on Facebook
right now. So I did have the help of three
wonderful women I met in Cumberland County who were training
(04:59):
there because there was no program in Dauphin County that
would be Judy Best Kid, Sarah Pierce and Enjoy Gross.
So the four of us, we call ourselves the Founding Mothers,
took years of lobbying the court, lobbying anyone who would
listen to us.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Why why something's as basic as this.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Why some court systems at that time they felt they
had it under control, They felt they had the caseworkers,
They felt that it wasn't broken. I felt it was broken. Yeah,
And now I think all the judges who have presided
over dependency court, Judge Cherry, Judge Morris, Judge McNally, they
(05:42):
all sing the praises of COSS and don't know what
they did without us. So I'm just so thrilled.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I can imagine, Well, tell us both you and what
are some of the things you're talking about? These kids
that are in neglect and abuse and children have died.
What is typical, like someone reports them or could it
be somebody on the streets. I would imagine they had
those what do they call the what is it designated
mandated reports? Those are doctors and coaches, anybody that notices
(06:12):
the kids. What happens after someone reports them?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So what ends up happening is they get the referral
goes into the Children in Youth, and then Children Youth
has its like very complex system to filter out whether
or not they need to give this family resources or
if you know, simplify it to take them out of
the home and make sure that they're safe. So from there,
(06:35):
these kids are then going to be placed in a
safe place, whether it's a foster home or a group home,
depending on where they're at. But it's really truly a
very complex situation. I mean, the kids that are coming
out of these homes are not coming I mean, you
said typical, but there's nothing typical about any one of
these cases. I mean, they're all very different and even
(06:56):
though they have similar issues going on, whether it's some
sort of sub and shoes or I mean, and we're
in Harrisburg, so there's a lot of human trafficking going on.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, people don't want to know that.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah. No, people don't want to know that.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And quite frankly, even from an advocate standpoint, we can
suspect it, but we can't diagnose what the problem is.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
We can just kind of keep an eye in ear.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And be like, Okay, that's an unsafe situation, so we're
going to make sure that that child stays away from
that situation as best we can.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Well, when you go into the homes to get these
children out, typically do the parents, is there any issue
with them? Are they're willing to give their children to
somebody from the courts or what I mean, what have
you found, Laurie, What do you know about that?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
It all begins with Usually, like you said, a mandated
reporter calls in someone at the hospital, at the school,
they see something is wrong, there's an emergency hearing, and
the court will decide whether they should be removed from
the family, So the cossa gets involved after that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
After that, usually yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
So the parents, they are still involved. They haven't lost
their parental rights yet, they have up to twenty two
months or more to try and correct whatever caused the separation.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And what might that be. In some cases, would they
have if it is an issue of drug and alcohol abuse,
would they have to go to programs like that or
what usually happens?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Absolutely, yeah, they So the court will mandate the parents
to like usually get a psychological evaluation and kind of
determine what the next best steps are for them and
really try to give.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Dauphin County specifically I can talk.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
They really do try to provide the parents every resource
that they need to be successful. So whether that's giving
them a referral to a parenting class or giving them
a referral to drug and alcohol counseling, they do their
best to make sure that those parents have what they need.
And sometimes the parents will fight it and for whatever
(08:50):
reason they don't go along with it, and then eventually
they'll either lose the right to their child because they've
there's a law that says fifteen out of twenty two months,
then the parents can lose the rights if the kids
been in care that long. That being said, parents have
held on to the rights for kids for much longer
than that.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
I mean, we've our.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Average case closes our child says our advocates stay on
case for about two and a half years. And there
are some cases that we've had that one actually just
finished up. There was a sibling group of ten and
all ten of them have now found a permanent solution.
But it took it was from day one of our
program until last month actually this month, and it took
(09:35):
a long time for them to go through this. And
you just never know what you're going to get when
with these kiddos, and how.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Long it's going to take.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Well, you know something I've always wondered, you know how
in domestic violence, how if it's not changes, the next
generation is going to repeat it? And well people have
I've told people about it, and they think they don't
believe it. Domestic violence isn't poor people that don't have
any money. It's the big shots. It's the doctors, almost say,
(10:04):
lawyers and Indian cheese. It's people you wouldn't suspect, it's
police officers, it's all kinds of people out there. Do
you find that same case with abused children when you're
going to get them, are they from what would you
say hire socioeconomic families or they typically people go ahead
one of them.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Yeah, I mean they come from the suburbs, they come
from the northern tier, they come from the city.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I mean we really do see them from all all
walks of life coming through our doors. Unfortunately, and it's
the thing is, none, none of the major societal issues
escape anybody. The mental health, the substance use of domestic violence, poverty,
all it doesn't really get to escape anybody. It could
be your neighbor, it could be a family member. And
(10:51):
I've had some calls like, hey, I think my family
members in this. Can you find anything out for me.
I'm like, oh, that's confidential, probably not, but you know,
we'll see what we can do to support.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
I want to ask you, Laurie. I was going to
ask you the leader part of the program, but because
you've been involved in the court system for so long
and what you've done in the other ladies have done,
this is to me is like, oh boy, this is
like watching a movie on TV and you're waiting for
the guy in the white horse to come and things
keep happening and happening and happening, and all of a sudden,
the guy. He's there and he's like at the top
(11:23):
of the hill, and Yay, that's what you've done for
children in Dauphin County and the court system. What I
want to ask you is, when you look back over there,
over this, what has been accomplished? How do you feel
Do you ever think, Oh, dear God, what if I
didn't push this, or what if I tell me about that?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It amazes me every day I pinched myself. I know
it took a long time to convince people, but once
they were convinced twenty nineteen, we took off like fire.
We are on our eleventh swearing in program. We're almost
up to fifty I'll what will brag about it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Bag, Oh my gosh, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Humble bragg.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
We're going to have forty seven volunteers coming in by
the end of the swearing in, which is happening on
the tenths.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Holy don't seven. It's only been a couple of years
that you've gotten hary manny, and you had a big
surrige earlier this year.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Right, Yeah, I mean honestly, when we had our last
fundraiser or the giving tree over over Christmas, we had
like twenty five volunteers come forward to inquire. Now, out
of that twenty five, we had about fifteen fill out
an application, and out of that fifteen, we have twelve
that are able to make it work.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh my gosh. And another thing about this is this
isn't something that you have to constantly be there. You
have to you become like like you're the shadow. The
advocate is more like the shadow of this kid and
make sure everything is going the way it should be.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Can you explain since you brought that up? And I
want to talk more about that too, since you brought
up the giving tree up and everything, we'll talk about
the what it was. You should have a giving tree.
Let's have an easier giving tree. Yes, but these causes.
If somebody when they came up to you, what did
they want to know them?
Speaker 4 (13:12):
What?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
After you told them what you did? What was their response?
I guess it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
But the great thing is a lot of people that
are coming through our door actually have done their research
and already know who we are, and then we just
kind of give them the nitty gritty and so like
I think, I mean, maybe Casey would be a better
one to tell me better, But I mean We have
some amazing people that have found us and are willing
to go through and be that eyes and ears for
(13:38):
the court, the shadow of the child, and really make
sure that everything's working the way they're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Casey, you're coming. Your job is coming up real real soon.
You're gonna be sworn in. When's that gonna happen.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
That's gonna happened on Thursday the tenth.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Okay, what is it that drew you to this?
Speaker 5 (13:55):
So one of my jobs that I was working was
within foster care, Okay, And I got to work with
ACASA with one of my families, and I just really
enjoyed the work and she and I got to talk,
and then I moved on to a different job and
I told myself, I was like, you know, I want
to do some more research about that, and you know,
it kind of passed. And then just recently I saw
(14:16):
something that they were looking for classes for Dauphin County
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to
take this as a sign and I'm going to apply.
And I'm so happy and grateful that I did, and
I can't wait to get started.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
What's the criteria?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Will you have to be twenty one years or older.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Okay, you have to be able to pass all the
major background checks, and you have to have the time
of flexibility to be able to go through the training,
which is thirty to forty hours, and also be able
to have that time to effectively advocate for your child
while they're in the system. So you know, typically it's
ten to fifteen hours a month. Some kiddos are a
little less. They're more I would call a maintenance mode
(14:53):
where everything's running smooth and that you just kind of
have to keep eyes on them and make sure everything's
still good. But some are more like a part time
job and you're really actively talking with their case team
a couple of times a week or checking in with
them at least once a week. I mean, the minimum
standard to see your kidos once a month, but our
volunteers they go above and beyond where they can.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I can imagine. I can imagine, Well, you were talking
about what's required over them and everything, but there's also
training required, and I want to talk that's not cheap,
and you know, seriously, that's that's one of your biggest expenses.
And people know about nonprofits things like that that pay
for programs grants do, but things like that they don't.
So what what type of training is it? Can you
(15:39):
talk about what? Like what casey maybe you can answer
this like what was their training life? You tell us
about that.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
So the training cover like a variety of different topics
from domestic violence, mental health, children in the system. We
had guest speakers come, we had a GL come, and
it was just all inclusive of the things that we're
going to kind of run into, but then also you know,
it's also things that you don't expect to see. So
(16:07):
I think they did a good job of making that connection.
And for me, I work within the social services, so
it was nice to be able to make those connections.
And I think that the training, like I said, it
just really covered a lot of different things. So I
feel prepared, but also you know, there's also things that
I can't prepare for. But overall, I think the training
cover things that I should be prepared for. And we
(16:28):
also discussed a lot too about the team that we
have to lean on, so we'll have will that we
can lean on, all the other costes that we'll be
able to lean on as well, even within the case
workers and the GL. So just learning how to use
the resources that you have and not being alone within
this because you know, it is a fight for the children.
So it's like just use all those people available to
(16:48):
you to kind of advocate for them and figure out
what it is that you need and work as a team.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I often wonder why people like police departments don't have
somebody go along with them when they have to go
into us situation like that, And found out a couple
of years ago Frank Chartero has he knew how to
handle that too, And you're doing a lot of that too.
They better they better know about mental health issues too, right,
which is the biggest issue in this country.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yep, yeah, I mean we are are our volunteers. I mean,
the training gives you a broad overview of what they're
going to expect.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Right, There's only so much.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean, mental health alone is literally a doctorate degree, right,
like you have to There's so much that could be
involved in that, and the abuse and the domestic violence.
I mean, there are people that make careers out of
this stuff, and I'm asking a volunteer to be at
least somewhat versed in.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
It so that they can effectively advocate for it.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And so we we only graize the surface with what
we can, but we do it in a way that
is supportive, real, but hopefully not too scary.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
No, I don't see you being too scary. Well questions
i'd go to you. Well, after this training is done with,
then what happens? She goes through her swearing and then
she waits for some do you match like I've heard
about another organization that mentor's children. They match the personality
with the job. But at that point, if you're going
into a sticky situation to begin with, you really don't
(18:14):
have time to decide what kasa goes with what child.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well, the nice thing is we're not in an emergent situation, okay,
I mean our volunteers are coming in after the emergency
has already kind of been put out for the most Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
But that being said, we do have work.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
We work really closely with children and youth and the
process that we've started doing a couple classes ago, even
was meeting with the managers, meeting with the caseworkers and
really trying to understand each of the kiddos that they're
referring to us. So then while we are going through training,
I mean we spent forty hours in the training that
we spent two hours before that with an interview, and
(18:49):
they've spent another hour on top of that doing an
information session, and so by the time they get done
with the training, we're basically best friends.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Casey, I don't know if anyone said that to you yet,
but she told.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Me she doesn't see you that way.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, well, that's okay, that's okay. She'll figure it out sometimes,
but they all do. They all figured it out at
some point. But realistically, though, like we've we've gotten to
know them over a very long course of time, and
that allows us to understand what they're comfortable with, what
they're not comfortable with, and we do our best. We
(19:22):
do do our best to match them with a kiddo
that they're going to be comfortable with. I know that's
I've said comfortable a lot, but it's important because it's
a very uncomfortable, oh yeah, feel that they're walking into
and so we have to do our best to support them.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Well, we're talking about the training, everything they go through
and everything, but typically what are they doing with the kids?
They're shadowing, not I don't want to say shadow. Is
that in appropriate word? You use for this shadowing, like
did they go to the school? Do they you know,
how does this work? Giving me some examples of what
the responsibilities would be. I know it's all individual life,
depending on the child, but sure.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
But generally speaking though, I mean, our volunteers are keeping
track of like their educational needs.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, so some of.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Our volunteers actually with all of the things that are needed,
and with a kiddo there are, their education is really
important and sometimes their case team, if the parents aren't
involved anymore, they needed the court needs to decide an
educational decision maker, and our volunteers actually will take that
role on. And that's been a huge thing for some
(20:22):
of our kiddos that get who have ips every year
the education plans, making sure that they are getting the
tutoring and extra support that they need to learn. And
we also come with the lens of these kiddos probably
are struggling not because of the material, but because of
everything else. Yeah, exactly, so we do a lot to
help support them in that regard.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
But I mean we're also keeping track.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
We have a volunteer that literally has gone to almost
every medical appointment. You know, it's one of my favorite volunteers.
I don't have favorites, Casey, I don't have favorites, but
he goes above and beyond. He's a med student, so
like he's like really well versed. And even children in
youth is like, if you're able to be there, we
would appreciate what you what you hear so that we
(21:07):
can make sure that we're making the best decisions, because
you know, they have to be able to justify to
the court whatever happens to this child.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I remember how long you in this role.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Now, since twenty twenty three, so about two years.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, and I've seen peak changes in this organization even
since he's been You are, Laurie, you want to talk
about that?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Oh? Yeah, our staff has grown. We have a program supervisor,
Kim Saint Clair. We now have a part time assistant
to Kim Rachel Farzan. We are we have an office administrator.
We are moving to new digs. We're moving. Yeah, mentioned
(21:48):
the address that we're moving to.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, Well, we'll be actually moving up the street a
little bit more. We're going to forty three oh nine
Lingles Town Road.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Oh that's not far from here, not far at all.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
And it's uh, I mean we want we went from
a two two ish office, uh less than a thousand
square feet to the office we're in now. But I
mean the new one we're gonna be able to stay
in for a while because it's it's going to be
just big enough for us to be able to expand
four offices.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
It's going to have its own cleaning, training classroom.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Oh yeah, that's great. You don't have to pay for that.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, I mean, and quite frankly, Judge Sarah Telly here
has been such a great benefactor, even from a support
a program support standpoint.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I mean, we use her.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
We've used her conference room pretty much for every training
since I've started, and it's been it's been a long journey,
but I think we're finally getting to not need her
as much and become.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Say that to somebody who's the mother of this organization.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
We're trying to lean off of Judge here, you know,
but you know we we have We've always appreciated all
of her support.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
But yeah, she's wonderful. There are no words, how about it, Laurie,
can you I guess I could ask will this to
either one of you? What sticks out in your mind
of life couple of years there's a certain situation that
really makes you feel like you were worried about that kid,
and oh my god, how things have turned around with
don't really identifying the kid. Like, give us an example
that situation that's that encourages you to continue with this organization.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
I think the one that took five years.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, I mean though he uh so young young and
started in the in the in the system, probably about
five ish years old and big sibling group, one of
the only ones to not be adopted by either a
family member or otherwise. And then he spent like half
(23:40):
his time, half his years in some sort of hospital setting.
Within the last year he had found a foster home
that became an adoptive home, which then became his permanent home.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
And I like, super incredible, wonderful to see him thrive.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
I mean from the time he walked into that that
foster placement, So he's a completely different kid. Before he
was like constantly testing people about like with his bad
behavior and like, and he wasn't really he wasn't doing
well in classroom setting, and like now he's thriving in school.
He's got foster parents that are incredibly patient with him,
(24:18):
and they he had some medication issues throughout the hospital
stays and now he's on like two or three in
verses like ten and it's it's it's it's incredible to
see this, this young man's transformation and eleven.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
He's only eleven years old and he's been going.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Through all this.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Oh God, bless yes, he has been through more than
most adults will have gone through in their oh oh
my god.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
But the KASA signed to him with them, stuck with
him the whole time.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
You hear that, Casey, I have a feeling about you.
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the funding that
you do need with KASA is to pay for this training,
which is the vital part of what you do for thevolunteers.
You have an event that I've been to we just
wonderfolks called Once upon a Time, and it's on just
a couple of weeks away. Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
We're very excited to do the third one Once upon Time.
We're calling it Chapter three, and it's going to be
at the Colonial Golf and Tennis Club right up the
street from here as well, okay, and we'll have child
actors there kind of exemplifying what it's like to have
gone through this year, we're kind of taking a slightly
different approach. In years past, it was the journey that
(25:29):
a child goes through, but we're going to hit them.
We're going to start with what it was like to
be a child before child protective laws, and then it's
going to be what it's like with a cost of
volunteer now.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And these are young actors who are familiar with the
system and they know all about how a child would
feel that way. And you walk because I loved it.
You walk around, you talk to these different kids and
it's like it's like you're talking to the actual child.
They're that good at what they're doing. And they tell
you their story and I can remember the one kid said,
I didn't do anything wrong and my heart's breaken and
(26:06):
I forget the kids an actor. It's really touching. It
is very touching about it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, there they were. They were phenomenal and we with
a new year. Our friend David z Ayaz of the program.
He was our director for the last couple of years.
He's also attended every training as a done domestic violence
training for our volunteers, and uh he's he was unable
to do it this year to other due to other commitments,
(26:32):
but he referred us to another phenomenal director, playwright Francesca
and Monolia, and I'm super excited to see where she
takes us this year. But then we'll have our silent auction,
and we're actually making a twist this year.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
With the silent auction.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We're also adding a raffle in addition to that, So
if you're not comfortable with some of the auction items
that bidding on those, then we will have tickets in
hand and you can.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Just place a ticket by a sleep of tickets and
then watch.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Just diamond necklace you're going to be given away.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Oh yeah. Mounts Jewelers for the second time has given
a beautiful infinity white diamond.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I know what you're talking about, Ellie.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
The seven hundred and fifty dollars almost They've been wonderful,
a wonderful supporter. We also have a beautiful baroque pearl
necklace made and donated by char mcgaro. Lots of baskets
with themes. I'm making one since I'm Italian, I put
together a wine pasta basket. Hopefully that will bring something in.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Oh yeah, I'll be betting on that one. I want
that sounds good to me. Who is this queen and
joy too? You have a she's a she an entertainer.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Absolutely, she's one of She She actually performed at our
first event and she did such a phenomenal job and
we decided to ask her to come back again this year.
She's a pianist, beautiful vocalist. She comes in and does
very lovely music throughout the evening where we're just super
excited to have her come in and play.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Let me wrap this up quickly by telling our folks
that you also have three nights stay at Margueriteville, Margaritaville
and Nashville Signature's Drinks of Dessert for all kinds of
fun things. And Bobby Hower, my buddy, Bobby Howard's going
to be the mc oh boy. I couldn't go without
mentioning him. How do we get tickets?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Well, you just go to our website Dauphincuntycosta dot org
and right on the homepage you should be able to
see your purchase ticket button and you click it and
off you go.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
One more time. What's the day? How do you get there?
It's what It starts at six in the evening. It's
only a couple of hours. It's really nice.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
It goes fast, it goes really fast.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So we're April twenty fourth, from six o'clock to eight pm.
You can go to our website again, Dauphincountycosta dot org
to buy your ticket. It'll be a great time at
Colonial Golf and Tennis Club. And really we just look
forward to seeing anyone who's willing to come out.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And I look forward to seeing you guys. Honest to god,
every time I find out you're coming in, I'm like,
oh yeah, yeah, yeah, They've done so much. And the
thing about you, guys is you're sincere. You're not doing
this because it's a jock, because you know how it
is a nonprofit. You don't getting paid a lot. You're
doing it because you have somebody liked Lorie, who was
the inspiration. So thanks so much for that. And remember
(29:14):
to catch Insight every Sunday and one of our ten
iHeart stations are on your favorite podcast app. I'm Sylvia Moss.
This has been Insight. Thanks so much for listening. See
you next week.
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