MARIETTA, Ga. — A Cobb County program that helps children in the foster care system is in need of volunteers.
For more than 30 years the program has helped these children with basic necessities and support.
According to the Cobb County CASA program administrators, about 400 kids are in the foster care system in this area alone and they are only able to help half of those kids because they need more people to sign up to be Court Appointed Special Advocates.
The program pairs volunteers with abused and neglected children.
These men and women are sworn officers of the court who meet with the children they’ve been assigned to make sure they have the resources they need.
Recently, volunteers and administrators stepped up for a group of siblings who only had the clothes on their backs.
“They had a lot of needs and clothing was one of them. The advocate who was assigned mentioned it to us and the universe and the stars aligned," CASA Juvenile Program Supervisor said Mari Garcia.
It’s a familiar challenge to kids who are thrust into the foster system.
“You only have enough time to pack a small bag or even a trash bag and that’s all you have for however many months or years," said Grace Gilbert.
Gilbert says the number of kids coming into foster care and needing a CASA rep has remained unchanged even throughout the pandemic.
“We’ve seen unfortunately a consistent number of children coming in and out of care and we are always in need of volunteers because we are only able to service about half of the children in care," said Gilbert.
Right now Cobb County’s CASA program has about 20 volunteers but they could use 10 more to be that extra layer of protection for foster kids.
For those interested, see the volunteer requirements here.