Jo-Anne Vanin: Connecting the Pieces

Friends of Children, Northampton, MA

Jo-Anne Vanin says her role as a CASA volunteer is to be the “glue” that connects the pieces in a complicated child welfare system.

Lydia and Job say she’s an angel.

When Jo-Anne saw a call for CASA volunteers in her local paper, her third child was heading off to college. She thought being a CASA volunteer might offer a way to make a difference in the lives of children in her community. A call to the director of her local program confirmed it, and Jo-Anne was sworn in as a CASA volunteer in May 2004.

Jo-Anne was assigned to Lydia and Job’s case six months later. Then 3 and 5 years old, the children were living with a mother whose ability to care for them was in question. She was receiving intensive parenting-skills training through a family support worker, and everyone agreed that she seemed to be making an effort to improve her ability to care for her children. But continued reports of concern from the children’s school and questions about safety in their home compelled a judge to assign a CASA volunteer to investigate what was in Lydia and Job’s best interest.

I always start by meeting the children.

Jo-Anne got to know the children and their mother. She met with the children’s teachers, with their caseworker, with the attorneys involved and with the maternal grandmother, who had a part-time caregiving role. Seven months later, Jo-Anne was at the table when the mother decided that though she loved her children, she did not have the capacity to care for them.

Never underestimate the resilience of children.

Job and Lydia found a permanent home with a familiar face: their mother’s family support worker. She and her husband first became the children’s foster parents and then assumed the role of legal guardians in March 2007. Today, the children, who had never done homework before coming home now beat their two siblings to the books after school each day and go to sleep each night knowing they are safe.

Ready to Stand Up for a Child Who Needs You?

Find a CASA program near you and inquire about becoming a volunteer.