April 28, 2026 • 30 mins
“Become a volunteer advocate for an abused or neglected kid in Dauphin County because every child deserves to live in a safe, supportive, and permanent home.”
Dauphin County CASA – Change a Child’s Story™
Dauphin County CASA – Change a Child’s Story™
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am Sylvia Moss.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is inside a presentation of iHeartMedia where we really
do care about our local communities and all our listeners
who live here. April's National Child Abuse Prevention Month, But
this is an issue that deserves our attention every single
day of the year.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And here's why.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Across the United States, there are more than five hundred
and thirty thousand, five hundred and thirty thousand cases of
child abuse and neglect that were reported in twenty twenty four.
That's nearly two thousand of these children also died as
a result of this abuse. Almost two thirds of those
fatalities involved kids under the age of three years old.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Who in the hell is.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Killing little children doing stuff to little children under three
years old the results in their death, I have no clue.
Here in Pennsylvania, during that same year, there were more
than forty one thousand suspected reports of child abuse and
neglect statewide, and right here in Daufin County, the numbers
were especially alarming. Our county ranked among the highs in
the state with two hundred twenty two substantiated case and
(01:02):
that means kids whose abuse was confirmed after they were investigated.
As regular listener you know how this issue inflames me.
What's the most alarming to me is that those who
are abusing and neglecting so many kids in our county
are the kid's parents.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I can be.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Sometimes naive, but what would cause a parent to abuse
or a neglected child? How can these parents not know
that kids who grow up in a home where they're
abusing neglected can be affected in every single area of
their development physically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially, and these effects
can last into their adulthood if they make it to adulthood.
(01:43):
One of the major ways that we can all help
children is to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
When a child is abused or neglected, the kid is
usually taken out of the home and placed in foster care.
And that's what we're going to talk about today. Right now,
there are more than three hundred and fifty children Dauphin
County foster care system, where they're usually assigned a caseworker.
(02:04):
Problem is that, just like the rest of the country,
Douphin Counties experienced a significant shortage of foster care workers
that lead to higher case roads, long service, and way
to get in and delays for these poor kids. Finally
finally got some good news for you. It's actually wonderful
because you're going to learn about an organization that truly
become one of the most stabilizing and impactful supports right
(02:26):
here in Dauphin County's foster care system. Real anxious for
you to meet the new executive director of Dauphin County CASA,
Beth Siegfried, And with Big Beth is Peters Forsmayer.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I said it, Pete, how do you like it?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He's a costa volunteer advocate and he's going to share
pretty special case that he's been dealing with.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Beth, let's start with you.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
First of all, I think people have to understand what
this is neglect or abuse? How would you define either
one of them?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Okay, so abuse could be physical, mental, psychological, emotional, and
I would say neglect is you know, lack of necessary resources, right,
lack of food, lack of housing, lack of medical attention,
educational support, things along those lines. And those are severe
(03:18):
cases right that get reported.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Okay, Now here's something that I'm doing my research about.
This Usually when it involves something all the time, I
do my research. But when it involves something with children,
I want to find out why, why?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Why? Where did it start?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
One of the things that I was concerned about. And
let me read a statement that I found. See how
you react to this. For much of history, child abuse
and neglect we're seen mainly as a result of bad
or immoral parenting. Most research shows that poverty and economic
hardship are the strongest predictors of which parents end up
having children removed from their homes from neglect or abuse?
(03:53):
Do you think economic? What I found out too was
that people who are on the lower and of economic level,
there's a lot more frustration there.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
If you're rich, you don't care about it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But the thing of it is, there are people who
are wealthy who babies, they're children.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Why do we not hear more about them?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I don't know if I have an exact answer for that,
but I can say that, you know, I think a
lot of times, you know, when it comes to poverty,
that can often lead to theft, It can lead to
drug use, which then in turn leads to incarceration. Right
then that child is separated from their parent, and oftentimes,
you know, if that parent is released, then there, you know,
(04:41):
is drug use again. And so with the rise in
percentage of those types of situations, there's a rise in
foster care because that's when kids are removed from their
home because it's not safe. You know that, That's why
our numbers often increase. That's why there's so many kids
that need additional support.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
They kill them to themselves this type of behavior. What
impact will they had on physically, as I said, physically
emotionally give us an id in Layman's terms.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Sure, for the foster children.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
For the children like why now you see why they
come out? Sure, they come to you and they all
have different issues. Absolutely, how does it impact them?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, I think it can result in academic issues,
whether it's you know, not attending school, so just not
getting their education period, but like struggling with progress in
the school system. It can result in health care concerns.
A lot of times we've had cases where kids are
suffering from chronic issues that have been undiagnosed and so
(05:43):
they're not getting the proper care that they need, which
will result of course in that you know, progression of
that health concern. There can be you know, obviously emotional
emotional distress. These are traumatic situations that these children are
going through and without the proper so port, whether that
be therapy or you know, a medical attention, they're they're
(06:06):
going to continue to have those struggles. They're going to
continue and those will carry on into their adulthood and
they'a it will and it impacts their next step in life. Right,
how are they going to find a job if they
are still struggling with just you know, maintaining their basic
level of education or their health care needs addressed. So yeah,
(06:26):
I mean it's it's it's sort of an ongoing cyclical
situation Gavin County.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Cause, yes, tell us what you're all about. What does
CASSA stand for.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
KASA is Court Appointed Special Advocates. We are a nonprofit organization.
We are recruiting and training and retaining volunteers who work
with the children and Youth services and the court system
for kids who have entered the child welfare system. And
we support those one volunteer to one case from the
(06:58):
beginning that child and there's a child welfare system until
they reach the end of that there's journey, I should say,
I guess whether that's getting adopted, going into a group home,
aging out, moving on into college, whatever it might be.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
People.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
As I was talking to your dear buddy advocate Noil
about all this nail is now right next to me email.
She's become a lot of voice letting people know about
your organization. And the word is getting out. Thank god,
the word is getting out. And just like I said
a minut or two ago, if these children don't get
this support thing, they're going to be they're gonna be
(07:35):
their parents again. That's just like drug and alcohol abuse
or man alumnis, all.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
These kind of things.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
But let us know, there's not a typical cost of volunteer,
and that's evidence in our other guests today. He blows
me away, pe tell us what they what they have
to go through, the cost of volunteers, what's expected.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Of sure, So to be a volunteer, you have to
be twenty one years of age and they go through
a thirty hour pre service training where this teaches them
what it means to be an advocate, what it's like
to be a part of the court process, what their
reports might look like. Because these reports are very influential.
They help these judges determine, you know, the next step
(08:13):
for these children and so they serve those thirty hours,
they get all the training that's necessary to support their child,
and then they are sworn in by a judge and
they are then considered a court appointed special advocate. And
so you know, once we work very closely with children
and Youth Services always like to make sure I say,
you know, it really does take a village and a community.
(08:34):
There are many many people involved in supporting these children
along the way, but yes, I mean the causes their
eyes and ears, and you know they're the one person
who's really there to make sure that they're advocating specifically
for those those children.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Well, Peter, Peter Forst Myers here with us today, and
when I thought, I mean, I've been talking with these
wonderful folks for a couple of years and I know
pretty much what you do and everything else. But when
I think of a volunteer, I think the idea once
could probably be an older retired person.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
They know about life.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
They're comforting because this is somebody a lot of these
kids don't trust anybody when they come to you, and
they need somebody they can counter. But then you walk
in here with Peter, and I think, for as busy
as this young guy is and he still finds a
time to become a cost of volunteer. Peter, tell us
about what you're doing about the kids that you're dealing
(09:24):
with now, I mean, before I say that, tell us
about you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You're in med school.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You guys never sleep seriously, So how do you find
time to do this?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And why?
Speaker 5 (09:35):
Prayers and coffee. That's how I find it?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Okay, I got it.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Okay, cool, And I just want to say thank you
for having me come on first spreading the word about
this good work. So how I find time is well,
like I said, and it's not a joke, prayers and
coffee that when it's as important as these children, you
will find a way. And if you talk to foster
parents or biological parents, often they don't know how they
(09:59):
do it in the day as well, but it's one
is for something as important as children in our future,
you can find time because it's just that important.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You know, this is a young guy with a lot
going on. So tell me about the experience you've had
with CASA.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
So my experience has been full of lots of ups
and downs. The organization itself is amazing the amount of
training and support that goes on even after training is
really exceptional. My experience is I've been AKASA for actually
just over three years now. When I was first appointed,
it was just for two children, two girls that live together,
(10:34):
and normally you don't do two children for one person,
but they had grew up together, they were placed together,
so it was an exception that we would have both girls.
And over the course of the case, it turns out
the rest of their siblings, the rest of their five
siblings and half siblings joined them in the foster care system.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Unfortunately, Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And it was really wonderful for CASA that that the
team recognized the need that all these other kids needed
cosses too. So now we're actually I'm part of a
costa team of two other volunteers that also help this
particular family.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So give us an idea, like the basics, like what
do you you're there for the child? How often are
for these different children? Both you guys just jumping at
any point. It's not like, what's that other organization that
becomes a mentor it's not really it's somebody in your corner.
But what actually daily or weekly or monthly, what is
(11:32):
expected of you guys, what type of thing do you do?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
You come in and read to them? Is it somebody
to talk to.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I would imagine that once a child trusts you, they
open up about a lot more stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
That's exactly right. So it's a bit.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
The broad summary is that we're the eyes and the
ears of the court and the voice of the child.
So our job is to integrate into the child's life
and their family to meet with their them in particular
the foster parents, the biological parents, teachers, coaches, therapists, doctors,
and really get a whole view on their life because
(12:06):
they see a judge or hear an examiner once every
four or five months, and it's really hard for the
judge to make an accurate decision about what's going on
in their lives. So they appointed the cassas and they
made this organization. The court appointed special advocates so they
could have somebody who could see it all and be
their advocate for the child in the court to say,
(12:28):
here's what's actually going on, here's what we should do,
and the judge takes that into consideration. So on the
data day, that looks like about once a month or
more visiting the children. I'm talking with them now. Some
have several children who can speak when we started, because
they're babies. So you o versus teenagers who you have
(12:48):
a long conversation about what is somebody's what is their
best interests, and what is their view of their best interests.
You meet with their foster parents or the placement that
they're in, like a group home.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
What about the parents themselves?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
If they've been neglected or if the children have been abused,
you can't send these kids. It's just like you did
all these work with these children and a judge won't
send them back to the parents if the parents haven't
gotten some sort of help, right, does any help on
that into yep.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So we meet and work with the biological parents as well,
always accept in very rare cases, the first goal is
reunification with the biological per okay, good to have them
go to parenting classes, receive treatment for drug and alcohol
abuse or anything else that's going on. So that's always
the primary goal, and so we meet with them regularly
about that.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Wow, that's fantastic. You know, I got to mention this
to be one. I think about costs. I think about
Bill Horning, who is past president of your board.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Hornings Hardware.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I'll always give them a plug because he's a saint
and his wife had twenty five foster kids, cost kids,
and that incredible. Lorie Sarah Telly, Oh, she's just amazing
for onnet. For her, there would be no costs in
this theory, and not every county in Pennsylvania has one
and they desperately need you.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Could you give us a brief story about Lorii?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Oh, I'd love to, yes. I mean, I can't say
enough good things about Lorii. She is amazing. She was
working so hard for so many years to get a
CASA here in Dauphin County. She became a judge and
at that point in time she was able to have
you know, sort of direct conversations with those in the
court system to support bringing in ACASA and Dauphin County
(14:30):
and supporting that through the county system. So yeah, I mean,
years and years and people will still say, Judges will
still say, you know, after swearing in, you know, this
was an uphill battle. You know, getting here was a
lot of hard work and it continues to be hard work,
of course on the part of the volunteers and our
program supervisors and the board.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
But yes, Lorie.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You know she has all of the historical knowledge and
she is she is never never stops advocating for children.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
She's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, she's an attorney, she was a judge. Every time
you see her, she's wrapped up in cause it's amazing. Okay,
now what have let me ask you Pete about this
for these kids you've been dealing with. What kind of
changes have you seen in the kids after they've been
with you for a while? I know is I mean
your evidence base, which is fantastic why you're so successful,
(15:21):
But talk to us about about that, Peter.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Well, it's different for every child.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Every child's story and that's why they need somebody specifically
for them to follow them for their whole time in
the foster care system to get to know them and
their specific history, their situation. So each of the seven
kids that I've worked with has been different, and not
only what they've been through, but how they've changed also.
So I'll give you two two, give two or three
very different examples. Now I can't get into very specific details,
(15:47):
but so one of the main things that we see
is so surprising is the resilience of these children. For instance,
there's a young teenage boy who had grown up his
whole life being neglected, and yet you speak with him
and as he's worked with his foster family and through
the court system, the patience, the emotional self awareness, and
(16:12):
the almost the beginnings of wisdom in this young man
is just amazing to see. And you hear often on
true stories about teenagers in the foster care system, and
this child couldnot be anything further from that. And the
way that he deals with his own emotions and giving
him self time to process things. So in his time
he's gone from a terrible situation to a very good
(16:34):
situation and he's beginning to show far past beginning to
show real signs of emotional maturity. Now, in many ways
he was robbed of his childhood, but he and yet
it has transformed him into this very resilient, wise young man.
And it's hard enough to find wise young man outside
(16:54):
of the foster care system. Another example, as a young girl,
even younger, when she was removed, she had a lot
of temperature insensitivity, not insensitivity, excuse me, temperature insecurity, housing insecurities,
food insecurity.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
So there was extreme low.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Or high temperatures in her old home and she moved
around or didn't have access to food regularly. She was
also very emotionally dysregulated, tearing apart rooms, screaming tantrums, even
smearing feces on the wall. Now I would commend for
the rest of my life there foster parents who did
great work and being patient with her and keeping her
(17:34):
and now she's a wonderful little girl. And our role
in that the front lines were the foster parents. But
our role in both of those stories was making sure
the foster parents had the resources they need. The foster
parents sometimes can be an island out there, and we
want to make sure they're not an island. That they
have somebody even just to vent to to be an ear,
a shoulder to cry on, to vent these somebody who
(17:56):
knows their situations.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
That they're in, but also being them.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
They see things on the ground that nobody else sees,
and that we can listen to them being integrated in
their whole the child's whole network, including the teachers or
the doctors, and we can tell the judge here's what
needs to happen. These are the needs of the child
that will get overlooked otherwise, whether it's therapy, dentists, or
even little things like they need to visit with this
(18:20):
such and such uncle more or just to pull an
example out of a hat. Little things it can be
even as little as they would like to have phone
calls with such and such person, and the world of
difference that can make. And it isn't just in that
the thing itself is helpful. But they know that they
have an advocate. The child knows that they have a
voice speaking for them, but otherwise they would be voiceless.
(18:43):
Gives them hope, and hope is something that often these
kids don't have.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, oh, I think he has me here on the
edge of tears. I think it's wonderful. Thank God for you.
I think you're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Okay, right now that you have sixty three.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Costs of volunteers, but you have new classes they're going
to start for them.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
When is thank you for bringing that up.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yes, we have our meet and greet is at the
end of June, and our classes officially start at the
beginning of July. So if anybody's interested, I would love
for you to reach out to us. You can can
I give my number now, okay, you can call us
at seven one seven eight eight eight nine nine seven three,
or you can visit our website at DAUPHINCOUNTYCASA dot org.
(19:23):
That's CASA dot org. Yeah, we have a new a
new training service pre service training starting and right now
is a great time to reach out because then we
can give you an informational session. We have an amazing
program supervisor and advocate supervisors that can fill you in
on just what it takes to be a volunteer here
(19:46):
and we can go through the process of you know,
going through any paperwork that's necessary and in advance of
that training. So, yeah, we would love for people to
reach out. We we are in need. We have somewhere
between twenty five thirty children that Children and Youth SERVI
have specifically noted as kids that they would like cast
us for because of their because of the complexity of
(20:06):
their case, right they need that extra support. So their
kids waiting. You know, over three hundred kids just in
the child welfare system alone that still could U support
here in daf Ac Counties.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
What should I think about after I've talked to you
and your website, check it all out, get in touch
with you.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
You'll give them everything they need to know.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
What should I ask myself if I'm considering being a
cost of volunteer.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
That's a great question. I think you know, to me,
what it really takes is someone like Peter, someone who
has resilience, someone who has patience, and someone who you
know really prioritizes the safety and welfare of children in
our community. So you know, if those are things that
you have and you are, are you consider on a
daily basis. I mean it's if you've ever thought about fostering,
(20:51):
this is a great way to see if that's the
right next step for you. You know, the commitment is somewhere.
You know you have one one in some visit a month,
but you know, regular calls and attending to case hearings.
What would you say is like maybe an average amount
of time fifteen to twenty hours a month, right, something
like that. I mean, if the complexity of the case
(21:11):
is more, or there having to be a lot of
hearings at a certain time, it might be a little more.
It might be a little less if things are you know,
sort of calming down. But you know, it's if you
think about it, it's just a few hours a week
of extra time that you're putting towards something that's really
improving not just this child's life, but the community's life.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I mean, we these children will grow up, they will
be you know, eventually young adults, they will be out
in our community. We want them to be you know,
a positive contribution to you know, what we do on
a daily life. So I think they would think about
those things. If you feel like volunteering and you don't
have the time, there might be other resources you could provide.
(21:50):
We are always looking for funding. Funding is you know,
one of our most important resources.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, I just you.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Know, we we really need more volunteers. But to have
more volunteers, we need more advocate supervisors and so you know,
those are our folks that we need to hire and
you know train as well. So you know, we need
additional funding for that. And so we're always looking for individuals,
and we're looking for corporations, We're looking for businesses. You know,
anybody who you know considers child warfare one of their
(22:21):
top priorities.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
We know, if you're driving through Linglestown at Christmas time,
right on the square is that great big costa tree.
That's one of things people will recognize about you. But
you have a real fun event coming up that you've
been doing this?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
What are yours? This is the fourth year for this.
This is the fourth year, fourth year. Tell us about that.
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
So it's called Once Upon a Time in Oz. We
changed it up just a little bit with the theme
this year, we're going to sort of have a Wizard
of Oz Wicked theme going on. This is one of
our yes, like you mentioned, one of our big fundraisers
for the years to gala. It is at Colonial Country
Club on June eleventh from six to eight pm. We
(22:59):
are just in the midst of updating our website, so
if it's not on there, visit it again. In another
day or two it will be. But our social media
has information about it. There's a Facebook event so but
of course you could reach out to us at anytime
if you're interested in attending, if you're interested in sponsoring.
We welcome folks who want to learn more about the
organization and give back in some way.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
And it's that one of those events where you have
to sit and list and somebody go on and on.
I mean, it's wonderful and you have a special MC
that I'm very familiar with.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
This year, right, we do.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
We do our EMC is Hamilton, none other than Glenn Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I love that man.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
He's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm surprised he's not.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm so excited that he's going to be there, and.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
He's amazing, one of the nicest guys.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yes, his voice wonderful, he's the best. You also have
or gerb. Do you have a live band a silent musician?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yep, and he'll play you know, some some special songs
from Wicked and the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, auction items.
We've got a couple coming in from the Hershey, Anthony
from the Senators, that's right. Yeah, lots of different organizations
are supporting that, so yeah, it'll be a great time.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Pete, where are you going, Peter?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Oh yeah, and I will say I love the silent
auction feature my my wife and I everyone uh symphony
tickets to the hashburg Syphony Orchestra as it was wonderful.
And then we also won an Italian date night with
a couple of bottles of wine Impassa, which we get
we enjoyed right after our honeymoon, so it was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Oh, he's we were kidding about him.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
He's a he's a newlywed right, Yes, he look at him,
he just thinks about her. He's leaving no kidder saying.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Oh you get over that.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
But I can tell what you are an amazing, amazing
human being. I mean, boy, oh boyl but going to
mid school just you're so articulate and you can tell
it's coming from your heart. And you were talking about
the possibility of having your own children.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
What do you think now?
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I think wow.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
I think that the amount of love and compassion that
has poured out for all these kids is amazing. Is
that one of the things that you see at the
outside of this system looking in is the pain and
the suffering of the children. When you're inside it, working
with it, you can see the compassion and the care
and the love that many people, including are COSSA volunteers,
(25:21):
but the CYS workers, the people that support the foster families,
the foster families themselves, the love is amazing. So what
your question earlier was about what should I think about?
One of the things that has resonated with me all
those stats that you brought up earlier, the kids that
are waiting for cassas, the kids that are waiting for
foster care. The question is are you going to let
(25:44):
that be the answer. That doesn't mean that you are
going to be a foster parent or you're going to
be a casa. But there's many ways you can help
answer that. Whether it's coming and enjoying a gala and
having orders and a silent auction, which is a wonderful,
amazing way to participate.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh my god, you and you know what else, the
people that you meet to remember the one year, it
was the stories and they had kids that were acting
and I was so blown away by this one young
kid that was telling his story. It was like he
was really the kid that was this that happened to
it was it was just it touched me, you know.
(26:19):
And Peter, I'm just I can't believe that. I don't know,
you're one in a million. I mean, you should be volunteer.
I mean an example of what a volunteer is. But
this is something we need to get back to taking
care of our kids. I remember maybe four or five
years ago, franch Arna was in here the DA and
he was talking about child sexual abuse and then he
(26:39):
said to me, so these I said, who are these?
And I use a different language that are doing these?
It's their parents. And I'm thinking, oh, dear, God, Oh
dear God, how can you do that?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
How can you do that to your children?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Because that's the greatest s gipt there is to have children,
and you, guys are the greatest gift that these children have.
You continue to get out there and talk to people
about what KASA is.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Has it changed your life Peter at all?
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Absolutely? Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
There's too many ways to even say how it's changed
my life these these children, just to watch them grow
and to know that they had a voice, that they
were given a chance. It doesn't it doesn't always work
for the children, but many of them, including their parents,
have been through the system, then through the foster charac system,
they never had a chance. At the very least, we
(27:30):
know that we gave these children a chance and that's
all that really matters. And knowing that even in small ways,
whether it's talking to a coach or to a teacher
once a week, little things like that a small helping
hand can help these children can change a life, can
change their children's lives.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
When they grow up.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
The amount that a loving and helping hand can can
really do has changed my life.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Oh don't you just love them? Bath? Yeah? I do,
I do. I think you know if you.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
If that resonates with you for sure, you know that's
this cause is a great place to be to to
be able to find that fulfillment, you know, giving back
to the community. I mean, that's that should be everyone's priority, right,
we should all be giving back in some way. And
what better way to do it than to be supporting
the children. And like you said, I mean, these kids
are you know, they're dealing with traumatic situations. The people
(28:27):
that they should be able to trust the most, or
the people that you know have have impacted them traumatically
in these difficult ways, these negative ways, and so you know,
to be able to provide something positive in their lives again, yeah,
it's it's an amazing, amazing opportunity. Opportunity.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Well, Peter, you're amazing, Thank you money. I mean, gosh,
I'm just don't I mean to tell them on the phone, staffing,
We're talking a whole lot of people. What do you
see the guy on that he's does this and this
and this, and he's.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
In med school.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
If you can find time and you feel this way,
there's plenty of people out there who can do the
same thing. I want to remind our listeners once again,
once upon a time. It's on Thursday, June eleventh, the
Colonial Country Club. For tickets and more information about that, Beth,
how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I would say they should call for now seven one seven,
eight eight eight nine nine seven three. You can visit
our website. If it's not there, wait a day, it
will be there. We're working on upgrading some things right now.
DAUPHINCOUNTYCASA dot org. You can visit our Facebook page as well.
We do have an event posted there.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Okay, sounds great.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, thank you guys so much, and don't forget. You
can catch Inside in Wonder Bar ten i Heeart Stations
this weekend or whenever you want.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
On your favorite podcast step.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been insights. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week.
I am Sylvia Moss.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is inside a presentation of iHeartMedia where we really
do care about our local communities and all our listeners
who live here. April's National Child Abuse Prevention Month, But
this is an issue that deserves our attention every single
day of the year.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
And here's why.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Across the United States, there are more than five hundred
and thirty thousand, five hundred and thirty thousand cases of
child abuse and neglect that were reported in twenty twenty four.
That's nearly two thousand of these children also died as
a result of this abuse. Almost two thirds of those
fatalities involved kids under the age of three years old.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Who in the hell is.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Killing little children doing stuff to little children under three
years old the results in their death, I have no clue.
Here in Pennsylvania, during that same year, there were more
than forty one thousand suspected reports of child abuse and
neglect statewide, and right here in Daufin County, the numbers
were especially alarming. Our county ranked among the highs in
the state with two hundred twenty two substantiated case and
(01:02):
that means kids whose abuse was confirmed after they were investigated.
As regular listener you know how this issue inflames me.
What's the most alarming to me is that those who
are abusing and neglecting so many kids in our county
are the kid's parents.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I can be.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Sometimes naive, but what would cause a parent to abuse
or a neglected child? How can these parents not know
that kids who grow up in a home where they're
abusing neglected can be affected in every single area of
their development physically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially, and these effects
can last into their adulthood if they make it to adulthood.
(01:43):
One of the major ways that we can all help
children is to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
When a child is abused or neglected, the kid is
usually taken out of the home and placed in foster care.
And that's what we're going to talk about today. Right now,
there are more than three hundred and fifty children Dauphin
County foster care system, where they're usually assigned a caseworker.
(02:04):
Problem is that, just like the rest of the country,
Douphin Counties experienced a significant shortage of foster care workers
that lead to higher case roads, long service, and way
to get in and delays for these poor kids. Finally
finally got some good news for you. It's actually wonderful
because you're going to learn about an organization that truly
become one of the most stabilizing and impactful supports right
(02:26):
here in Dauphin County's foster care system. Real anxious for
you to meet the new executive director of Dauphin County CASA,
Beth Siegfried, And with Big Beth is Peters Forsmayer.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I said it, Pete, how do you like it?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He's a costa volunteer advocate and he's going to share
pretty special case that he's been dealing with.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Beth, let's start with you.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
First of all, I think people have to understand what
this is neglect or abuse? How would you define either
one of them?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Okay, so abuse could be physical, mental, psychological, emotional, and
I would say neglect is you know, lack of necessary resources, right,
lack of food, lack of housing, lack of medical attention,
educational support, things along those lines. And those are severe
(03:18):
cases right that get reported.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Okay, Now here's something that I'm doing my research about.
This Usually when it involves something all the time, I
do my research. But when it involves something with children,
I want to find out why, why?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Why? Where did it start?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
One of the things that I was concerned about. And
let me read a statement that I found. See how
you react to this. For much of history, child abuse
and neglect we're seen mainly as a result of bad
or immoral parenting. Most research shows that poverty and economic
hardship are the strongest predictors of which parents end up
having children removed from their homes from neglect or abuse?
(03:53):
Do you think economic? What I found out too was
that people who are on the lower and of economic level,
there's a lot more frustration there.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
If you're rich, you don't care about it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
But the thing of it is, there are people who
are wealthy who babies, they're children.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Why do we not hear more about them?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I don't know if I have an exact answer for that,
but I can say that, you know, I think a
lot of times, you know, when it comes to poverty,
that can often lead to theft, It can lead to
drug use, which then in turn leads to incarceration. Right
then that child is separated from their parent, and oftentimes,
you know, if that parent is released, then there, you know,
(04:41):
is drug use again. And so with the rise in
percentage of those types of situations, there's a rise in
foster care because that's when kids are removed from their
home because it's not safe. You know that, That's why
our numbers often increase. That's why there's so many kids
that need additional support.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
They kill them to themselves this type of behavior. What
impact will they had on physically, as I said, physically
emotionally give us an id in Layman's terms.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Sure, for the foster children.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
For the children like why now you see why they
come out? Sure, they come to you and they all
have different issues. Absolutely, how does it impact them?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, I think it can result in academic issues,
whether it's you know, not attending school, so just not
getting their education period, but like struggling with progress in
the school system. It can result in health care concerns.
A lot of times we've had cases where kids are
suffering from chronic issues that have been undiagnosed and so
(05:43):
they're not getting the proper care that they need, which
will result of course in that you know, progression of
that health concern. There can be you know, obviously emotional
emotional distress. These are traumatic situations that these children are
going through and without the proper so port, whether that
be therapy or you know, a medical attention, they're they're
(06:06):
going to continue to have those struggles. They're going to
continue and those will carry on into their adulthood and
they'a it will and it impacts their next step in life. Right,
how are they going to find a job if they
are still struggling with just you know, maintaining their basic
level of education or their health care needs addressed. So yeah,
(06:26):
I mean it's it's it's sort of an ongoing cyclical
situation Gavin County.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Cause, yes, tell us what you're all about. What does
CASSA stand for.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
KASA is Court Appointed Special Advocates. We are a nonprofit organization.
We are recruiting and training and retaining volunteers who work
with the children and Youth services and the court system
for kids who have entered the child welfare system. And
we support those one volunteer to one case from the
(06:58):
beginning that child and there's a child welfare system until
they reach the end of that there's journey, I should say,
I guess whether that's getting adopted, going into a group home,
aging out, moving on into college, whatever it might be.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
People.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
As I was talking to your dear buddy advocate Noil
about all this nail is now right next to me email.
She's become a lot of voice letting people know about
your organization. And the word is getting out. Thank god,
the word is getting out. And just like I said
a minut or two ago, if these children don't get
this support thing, they're going to be they're gonna be
(07:35):
their parents again. That's just like drug and alcohol abuse
or man alumnis, all.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
These kind of things.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
But let us know, there's not a typical cost of volunteer,
and that's evidence in our other guests today. He blows
me away, pe tell us what they what they have
to go through, the cost of volunteers, what's expected.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Of sure, So to be a volunteer, you have to
be twenty one years of age and they go through
a thirty hour pre service training where this teaches them
what it means to be an advocate, what it's like
to be a part of the court process, what their
reports might look like. Because these reports are very influential.
They help these judges determine, you know, the next step
(08:13):
for these children and so they serve those thirty hours,
they get all the training that's necessary to support their child,
and then they are sworn in by a judge and
they are then considered a court appointed special advocate. And
so you know, once we work very closely with children
and Youth Services always like to make sure I say,
you know, it really does take a village and a community.
(08:34):
There are many many people involved in supporting these children
along the way, but yes, I mean the causes their
eyes and ears, and you know they're the one person
who's really there to make sure that they're advocating specifically
for those those children.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Well, Peter, Peter Forst Myers here with us today, and
when I thought, I mean, I've been talking with these
wonderful folks for a couple of years and I know
pretty much what you do and everything else. But when
I think of a volunteer, I think the idea once
could probably be an older retired person.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
They know about life.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
They're comforting because this is somebody a lot of these
kids don't trust anybody when they come to you, and
they need somebody they can counter. But then you walk
in here with Peter, and I think, for as busy
as this young guy is and he still finds a
time to become a cost of volunteer. Peter, tell us
about what you're doing about the kids that you're dealing
(09:24):
with now, I mean, before I say that, tell us
about you.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You're in med school.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You guys never sleep seriously, So how do you find
time to do this?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And why?
Speaker 5 (09:35):
Prayers and coffee. That's how I find it?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Okay, I got it.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Okay, cool, And I just want to say thank you
for having me come on first spreading the word about
this good work. So how I find time is well,
like I said, and it's not a joke, prayers and
coffee that when it's as important as these children, you
will find a way. And if you talk to foster
parents or biological parents, often they don't know how they
(09:59):
do it in the day as well, but it's one
is for something as important as children in our future,
you can find time because it's just that important.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You know, this is a young guy with a lot
going on. So tell me about the experience you've had
with CASA.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
So my experience has been full of lots of ups
and downs. The organization itself is amazing the amount of
training and support that goes on even after training is
really exceptional. My experience is I've been AKASA for actually
just over three years now. When I was first appointed,
it was just for two children, two girls that live together,
(10:34):
and normally you don't do two children for one person,
but they had grew up together, they were placed together,
so it was an exception that we would have both girls.
And over the course of the case, it turns out
the rest of their siblings, the rest of their five
siblings and half siblings joined them in the foster care system.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Unfortunately, Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And it was really wonderful for CASA that that the
team recognized the need that all these other kids needed
cosses too. So now we're actually I'm part of a
costa team of two other volunteers that also help this
particular family.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So give us an idea, like the basics, like what
do you you're there for the child? How often are
for these different children? Both you guys just jumping at
any point. It's not like, what's that other organization that
becomes a mentor it's not really it's somebody in your corner.
But what actually daily or weekly or monthly, what is
(11:32):
expected of you guys, what type of thing do you do?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
You come in and read to them? Is it somebody
to talk to.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I would imagine that once a child trusts you, they
open up about a lot more stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
That's exactly right. So it's a bit.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
The broad summary is that we're the eyes and the
ears of the court and the voice of the child.
So our job is to integrate into the child's life
and their family to meet with their them in particular
the foster parents, the biological parents, teachers, coaches, therapists, doctors,
and really get a whole view on their life because
(12:06):
they see a judge or hear an examiner once every
four or five months, and it's really hard for the
judge to make an accurate decision about what's going on
in their lives. So they appointed the cassas and they
made this organization. The court appointed special advocates so they
could have somebody who could see it all and be
their advocate for the child in the court to say,
(12:28):
here's what's actually going on, here's what we should do,
and the judge takes that into consideration. So on the
data day, that looks like about once a month or
more visiting the children. I'm talking with them now. Some
have several children who can speak when we started, because
they're babies. So you o versus teenagers who you have
(12:48):
a long conversation about what is somebody's what is their
best interests, and what is their view of their best interests.
You meet with their foster parents or the placement that
they're in, like a group home.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
What about the parents themselves?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
If they've been neglected or if the children have been abused,
you can't send these kids. It's just like you did
all these work with these children and a judge won't
send them back to the parents if the parents haven't
gotten some sort of help, right, does any help on
that into yep.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
So we meet and work with the biological parents as well,
always accept in very rare cases, the first goal is
reunification with the biological per okay, good to have them
go to parenting classes, receive treatment for drug and alcohol
abuse or anything else that's going on. So that's always
the primary goal, and so we meet with them regularly
about that.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Wow, that's fantastic. You know, I got to mention this
to be one. I think about costs. I think about
Bill Horning, who is past president of your board.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Hornings Hardware.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I'll always give them a plug because he's a saint
and his wife had twenty five foster kids, cost kids,
and that incredible. Lorie Sarah Telly, Oh, she's just amazing
for onnet. For her, there would be no costs in
this theory, and not every county in Pennsylvania has one
and they desperately need you.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Could you give us a brief story about Lorii?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Oh, I'd love to, yes. I mean, I can't say
enough good things about Lorii. She is amazing. She was
working so hard for so many years to get a
CASA here in Dauphin County. She became a judge and
at that point in time she was able to have
you know, sort of direct conversations with those in the
court system to support bringing in ACASA and Dauphin County
(14:30):
and supporting that through the county system. So yeah, I mean,
years and years and people will still say, Judges will
still say, you know, after swearing in, you know, this
was an uphill battle. You know, getting here was a
lot of hard work and it continues to be hard work,
of course on the part of the volunteers and our
program supervisors and the board.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
But yes, Lorie.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You know she has all of the historical knowledge and
she is she is never never stops advocating for children.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
She's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, she's an attorney, she was a judge. Every time
you see her, she's wrapped up in cause it's amazing. Okay,
now what have let me ask you Pete about this
for these kids you've been dealing with. What kind of
changes have you seen in the kids after they've been
with you for a while? I know is I mean
your evidence base, which is fantastic why you're so successful,
(15:21):
But talk to us about about that, Peter.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Well, it's different for every child.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Every child's story and that's why they need somebody specifically
for them to follow them for their whole time in
the foster care system to get to know them and
their specific history, their situation. So each of the seven
kids that I've worked with has been different, and not
only what they've been through, but how they've changed also.
So I'll give you two two, give two or three
very different examples. Now I can't get into very specific details,
(15:47):
but so one of the main things that we see
is so surprising is the resilience of these children. For instance,
there's a young teenage boy who had grown up his
whole life being neglected, and yet you speak with him
and as he's worked with his foster family and through
the court system, the patience, the emotional self awareness, and
(16:12):
the almost the beginnings of wisdom in this young man
is just amazing to see. And you hear often on
true stories about teenagers in the foster care system, and
this child couldnot be anything further from that. And the
way that he deals with his own emotions and giving
him self time to process things. So in his time
he's gone from a terrible situation to a very good
(16:34):
situation and he's beginning to show far past beginning to
show real signs of emotional maturity. Now, in many ways
he was robbed of his childhood, but he and yet
it has transformed him into this very resilient, wise young man.
And it's hard enough to find wise young man outside
(16:54):
of the foster care system. Another example, as a young girl,
even younger, when she was removed, she had a lot
of temperature insensitivity, not insensitivity, excuse me, temperature insecurity, housing insecurities,
food insecurity.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
So there was extreme low.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Or high temperatures in her old home and she moved
around or didn't have access to food regularly. She was
also very emotionally dysregulated, tearing apart rooms, screaming tantrums, even
smearing feces on the wall. Now I would commend for
the rest of my life there foster parents who did
great work and being patient with her and keeping her
(17:34):
and now she's a wonderful little girl. And our role
in that the front lines were the foster parents. But
our role in both of those stories was making sure
the foster parents had the resources they need. The foster
parents sometimes can be an island out there, and we
want to make sure they're not an island. That they
have somebody even just to vent to to be an ear,
a shoulder to cry on, to vent these somebody who
(17:56):
knows their situations.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
That they're in, but also being them.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
They see things on the ground that nobody else sees,
and that we can listen to them being integrated in
their whole the child's whole network, including the teachers or
the doctors, and we can tell the judge here's what
needs to happen. These are the needs of the child
that will get overlooked otherwise, whether it's therapy, dentists, or
even little things like they need to visit with this
(18:20):
such and such uncle more or just to pull an
example out of a hat. Little things it can be
even as little as they would like to have phone
calls with such and such person, and the world of
difference that can make. And it isn't just in that
the thing itself is helpful. But they know that they
have an advocate. The child knows that they have a
voice speaking for them, but otherwise they would be voiceless.
(18:43):
Gives them hope, and hope is something that often these
kids don't have.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, oh, I think he has me here on the
edge of tears. I think it's wonderful. Thank God for you.
I think you're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Okay, right now that you have sixty three.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Costs of volunteers, but you have new classes they're going
to start for them.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
When is thank you for bringing that up.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yes, we have our meet and greet is at the
end of June, and our classes officially start at the
beginning of July. So if anybody's interested, I would love
for you to reach out to us. You can can
I give my number now, okay, you can call us
at seven one seven eight eight eight nine nine seven three,
or you can visit our website at DAUPHINCOUNTYCASA dot org.
(19:23):
That's CASA dot org. Yeah, we have a new a
new training service pre service training starting and right now
is a great time to reach out because then we
can give you an informational session. We have an amazing
program supervisor and advocate supervisors that can fill you in
on just what it takes to be a volunteer here
(19:46):
and we can go through the process of you know,
going through any paperwork that's necessary and in advance of
that training. So, yeah, we would love for people to
reach out. We we are in need. We have somewhere
between twenty five thirty children that Children and Youth SERVI
have specifically noted as kids that they would like cast
us for because of their because of the complexity of
(20:06):
their case, right they need that extra support. So their
kids waiting. You know, over three hundred kids just in
the child welfare system alone that still could U support
here in daf Ac Counties.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
What should I think about after I've talked to you
and your website, check it all out, get in touch
with you.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
You'll give them everything they need to know.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
What should I ask myself if I'm considering being a
cost of volunteer.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
That's a great question. I think you know, to me,
what it really takes is someone like Peter, someone who
has resilience, someone who has patience, and someone who you
know really prioritizes the safety and welfare of children in
our community. So you know, if those are things that
you have and you are, are you consider on a
daily basis. I mean it's if you've ever thought about fostering,
(20:51):
this is a great way to see if that's the
right next step for you. You know, the commitment is somewhere.
You know you have one one in some visit a month,
but you know, regular calls and attending to case hearings.
What would you say is like maybe an average amount
of time fifteen to twenty hours a month, right, something
like that. I mean, if the complexity of the case
(21:11):
is more, or there having to be a lot of
hearings at a certain time, it might be a little more.
It might be a little less if things are you know,
sort of calming down. But you know, it's if you
think about it, it's just a few hours a week
of extra time that you're putting towards something that's really
improving not just this child's life, but the community's life.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I mean, we these children will grow up, they will
be you know, eventually young adults, they will be out
in our community. We want them to be you know,
a positive contribution to you know, what we do on
a daily life. So I think they would think about
those things. If you feel like volunteering and you don't
have the time, there might be other resources you could provide.
(21:50):
We are always looking for funding. Funding is you know,
one of our most important resources.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, I just you.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Know, we we really need more volunteers. But to have
more volunteers, we need more advocate supervisors and so you know,
those are our folks that we need to hire and
you know train as well. So you know, we need
additional funding for that. And so we're always looking for individuals,
and we're looking for corporations, We're looking for businesses. You know,
anybody who you know considers child warfare one of their
(22:21):
top priorities.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
We know, if you're driving through Linglestown at Christmas time,
right on the square is that great big costa tree.
That's one of things people will recognize about you. But
you have a real fun event coming up that you've
been doing this?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
What are yours? This is the fourth year for this.
This is the fourth year, fourth year. Tell us about that.
That's cool.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
So it's called Once Upon a Time in Oz. We
changed it up just a little bit with the theme
this year, we're going to sort of have a Wizard
of Oz Wicked theme going on. This is one of
our yes, like you mentioned, one of our big fundraisers
for the years to gala. It is at Colonial Country
Club on June eleventh from six to eight pm. We
(22:59):
are just in the midst of updating our website, so
if it's not on there, visit it again. In another
day or two it will be. But our social media
has information about it. There's a Facebook event so but
of course you could reach out to us at anytime
if you're interested in attending, if you're interested in sponsoring.
We welcome folks who want to learn more about the
organization and give back in some way.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
And it's that one of those events where you have
to sit and list and somebody go on and on.
I mean, it's wonderful and you have a special MC
that I'm very familiar with.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
This year, right, we do.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
We do our EMC is Hamilton, none other than Glenn Hamilton.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I love that man.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
He's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I'm surprised he's not.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm so excited that he's going to be there, and.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
He's amazing, one of the nicest guys.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yes, his voice wonderful, he's the best. You also have
or gerb. Do you have a live band a silent musician?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yep, and he'll play you know, some some special songs
from Wicked and the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, auction items.
We've got a couple coming in from the Hershey, Anthony
from the Senators, that's right. Yeah, lots of different organizations
are supporting that, so yeah, it'll be a great time.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Pete, where are you going, Peter?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Oh yeah, and I will say I love the silent
auction feature my my wife and I everyone uh symphony
tickets to the hashburg Syphony Orchestra as it was wonderful.
And then we also won an Italian date night with
a couple of bottles of wine Impassa, which we get
we enjoyed right after our honeymoon, so it was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Oh, he's we were kidding about him.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
He's a he's a newlywed right, Yes, he look at him,
he just thinks about her. He's leaving no kidder saying.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Oh you get over that.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
But I can tell what you are an amazing, amazing
human being. I mean, boy, oh boyl but going to
mid school just you're so articulate and you can tell
it's coming from your heart. And you were talking about
the possibility of having your own children.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
What do you think now?
Speaker 5 (25:00):
I think wow.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
I think that the amount of love and compassion that
has poured out for all these kids is amazing. Is
that one of the things that you see at the
outside of this system looking in is the pain and
the suffering of the children. When you're inside it, working
with it, you can see the compassion and the care
and the love that many people, including are COSSA volunteers,
(25:21):
but the CYS workers, the people that support the foster families,
the foster families themselves, the love is amazing. So what
your question earlier was about what should I think about?
One of the things that has resonated with me all
those stats that you brought up earlier, the kids that
are waiting for cassas, the kids that are waiting for
foster care. The question is are you going to let
(25:44):
that be the answer. That doesn't mean that you are
going to be a foster parent or you're going to
be a casa. But there's many ways you can help
answer that. Whether it's coming and enjoying a gala and
having orders and a silent auction, which is a wonderful,
amazing way to participate.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh my god, you and you know what else, the
people that you meet to remember the one year, it
was the stories and they had kids that were acting
and I was so blown away by this one young
kid that was telling his story. It was like he
was really the kid that was this that happened to
it was it was just it touched me, you know.
(26:19):
And Peter, I'm just I can't believe that. I don't know,
you're one in a million. I mean, you should be volunteer.
I mean an example of what a volunteer is. But
this is something we need to get back to taking
care of our kids. I remember maybe four or five
years ago, franch Arna was in here the DA and
he was talking about child sexual abuse and then he
(26:39):
said to me, so these I said, who are these?
And I use a different language that are doing these?
It's their parents. And I'm thinking, oh, dear, God, Oh
dear God, how can you do that?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
How can you do that to your children?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Because that's the greatest s gipt there is to have children,
and you, guys are the greatest gift that these children have.
You continue to get out there and talk to people
about what KASA is.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Has it changed your life Peter at all?
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Absolutely? Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
There's too many ways to even say how it's changed
my life these these children, just to watch them grow
and to know that they had a voice, that they
were given a chance. It doesn't it doesn't always work
for the children, but many of them, including their parents,
have been through the system, then through the foster charac system,
they never had a chance. At the very least, we
(27:30):
know that we gave these children a chance and that's
all that really matters. And knowing that even in small ways,
whether it's talking to a coach or to a teacher
once a week, little things like that a small helping
hand can help these children can change a life, can
change their children's lives.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
When they grow up.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
The amount that a loving and helping hand can can
really do has changed my life.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Oh don't you just love them? Bath? Yeah? I do,
I do. I think you know if you.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
If that resonates with you for sure, you know that's
this cause is a great place to be to to
be able to find that fulfillment, you know, giving back
to the community. I mean, that's that should be everyone's priority, right,
we should all be giving back in some way. And
what better way to do it than to be supporting
the children. And like you said, I mean, these kids
are you know, they're dealing with traumatic situations. The people
(28:27):
that they should be able to trust the most, or
the people that you know have have impacted them traumatically
in these difficult ways, these negative ways, and so you know,
to be able to provide something positive in their lives again, yeah,
it's it's an amazing, amazing opportunity. Opportunity.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Well, Peter, you're amazing, Thank you money. I mean, gosh,
I'm just don't I mean to tell them on the phone, staffing,
We're talking a whole lot of people. What do you
see the guy on that he's does this and this
and this, and he's.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
In med school.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
If you can find time and you feel this way,
there's plenty of people out there who can do the
same thing. I want to remind our listeners once again,
once upon a time. It's on Thursday, June eleventh, the
Colonial Country Club. For tickets and more information about that, Beth,
how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I would say they should call for now seven one seven,
eight eight eight nine nine seven three. You can visit
our website. If it's not there, wait a day, it
will be there. We're working on upgrading some things right now.
DAUPHINCOUNTYCASA dot org. You can visit our Facebook page as well.
We do have an event posted there.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Okay, sounds great.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, thank you guys so much, and don't forget. You
can catch Inside in Wonder Bar ten i Heeart Stations
this weekend or whenever you want.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
On your favorite podcast step.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I'm Sylvia Moss. This has been insights. Thanks so much
for listening. See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.