When a family court judge removes a child from their home because of abuse or neglect, moving that child somewhere safe is only the first step. The harder question is what comes next, how a frightened, often confused child actually gets their needs met once they land in a resource home, a group home, or wherever the system places them. In Middlesex County, one consistent answer has been assigning the case a CASA advocate, a trained community volunteer whose entire role is looking out for that one child’s best interests until the case closes.

Trained to Be the Eyes and Ears of the Court

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Middlesex County, established in 2006, is one of 11 CASA offices operating across New Jersey, each built around the same core mission, recruiting and training volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children living outside their biological homes. The East Brunswick based organization runs on a team of just seven staff members supported by more than 90 volunteers, covering cases across Carteret, East Brunswick, Edison, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, South Brunswick, and Woodbridge.

Becoming a CASA advocate is not a casual commitment. Volunteers complete more than 30 hours of in person training before ever taking on a case, covering the effects of trauma and abuse on children, how family court actually functions, how to draft a formal court report, how to review case files, and how to navigate the often complicated family dynamics they will encounter. That training includes three additional hours observing real court proceedings, preparing volunteers for environments that can be genuinely difficult and frightening for the children living through them.

What the Role Actually Looks Like Month to Month

CASA advocates typically devote 10 to 12 hours a month to a single case, moving between conversations with the child, caseworkers from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, teachers, doctors, relatives, and caregivers. That range of contact points reflects just how disruptive a removal from home can be for a child, who may be shifted to a new school, separated from siblings, switched to unfamiliar medical or mental health providers, or moved through more than one resource home before their case is resolved. Amid all of that instability, the advocate is often the one adult who does not change.

The support CASA volunteers provide spans a genuinely wide range, from toddler toys and puzzles to prom dresses and homework help, funded in part through CASA donors specifically to fill gaps the formal system does not always cover. Advocates who identify a specific unmet need, whether that is speech therapy, tutoring, or simply consistency around where a child goes to school, can push directly for that resource and then formally document the recommendation in the report a judge ultimately reviews before making a decision about the child’s future.

One Advocate, One Child, and a Path Back Home

Mateo was three years old when he was removed from his home, the result of his mother’s substance use, unstable housing, and a domestic violence incident he witnessed between his parents. He was placed with a nonrelative resource parent, and a CASA advocate named Jaime was assigned to his case shortly after. Recognizing significant delays in Mateo’s speech, Jaime advocated until she secured him appointments with a licensed speech therapist, and set up language learning games on an educational tablet funded through CASA donors to reinforce that progress outside of formal sessions. She also fought to keep Mateo enrolled at the preschool he already knew, preserving one piece of stability in a life that had lost most others, and ensured the tutoring support he began receiving at school continued by formally including it among her recommendations in court.

While Mateo received that support, his biological mother worked through parenting classes and services coordinated through the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. CASA stayed in contact with her throughout, documenting her progress in each court report along the way. That progress proved real. She secured stable housing and rebuilt her circumstances on considerably firmer ground, and two years after Mateo was first removed, his case closed with a successful reunification, bringing him back home to his mother.

What CASA Still Needs

Executive Director Tim Cummings, who took over leadership of the organization last year, has been direct about the gaps that remain. CASA of Middlesex County currently reaches roughly 68 percent of the children in the county’s foster care system who need an advocate, leaving a real, unmet portion of the population without the kind of consistent support Mateo received. Cummings has pointed to several priorities looking ahead, strengthening the organization’s financial footing given that 60 percent of its funding currently comes from federal, state, and local government grants, addressing an ongoing shortage of resource homes across the county, recruiting a more diverse pool of volunteer advocates, and simply growing the number of people willing to take on the role at all.

Cummings has described the lesson the work leaves with everyone who takes it on, citing a mentor’s own words that people learn who they are called to be by the people they are called to serve. One volunteer put the same idea more simply, saying the experience of advocating for a child had made them a better person in return. For a county still working to reach every child who needs someone in their corner, that exchange, one adult’s steady presence in exchange for a young person’s chance at stability, remains the entire model CASA of Middlesex County is built on. Those interested in learning more about volunteering, fundraising, or supporting the organization can visit casaofmiddlesexcounty.org.