This agency is great. They are court appointed by the Judge in the court system to cases of children that have been removed from their homes by SRS b/c their parents were neglectful or abusive to them.
These highly trained volunteers are then appointed to the children's case to monitor how the parents are doing to get their children back into their home; make sure that all court orders are being followed; make sure that the child is in a safe foster home, & much more.
There is an opportunity for these volunteers to become friends, mentors and advisors to the children throughout the life of the case which could be over 1 year of out of home services. They also monitor how the child is doing in school. They can observe the visits between parents and children as the case progresses. Everything is then written down in a court report that is overviewed by the volunteers supervisor. A final draft is then sent to the Judge and all parties on the case. The volunteer and supervisors do appear at the hearings for the case.
These volunteers can be a real support system to a child that has been let down by a neglectful parent. Traditionally foster care agency workers move around a lot, leave a case after a child gets use to them. Here is an opportunity for the volunteer to be the one 'constant' on a childs case. The one person that remains during the entire life of the case. The person that has been there for the child the whole life of the case. They are for the Child!