Success Story: Justine
You know what this feels like.
“I’ll do anything to see my family.”
Tragically we all know too well what it feels like to be separated from loved ones.
What we have experienced in 2020 is so similar to the heartbreak families involved in the foster care system go through.
Families like Justine’s.
“It broke my heart to be separated from my kids.”
Justine had done everything she could to shelter her young children – two-year-old Camden and baby Isabella - from her husband’s violent anger. Justine walked on eggshells, applied extra make-up to hide the purple and green bruises, and smiled in public. She was isolated and led to believe if she kept her husband’s violence a secret, she could minimize his outbursts and shield her children from the blows.
One day, the violence spilled out onto two-year-old Camden. Child Protective Services removed the children and placed them in foster care.
Justine was alone.
The family violence isolated Justine. She did everything she could to keep her children safe. Once her children were removed, she was alone and undone. She didn’t know what to do.
Your kindness found a way. Donors gave Justine’s family a CASA volunteer and made sure Justine wasn’t alone anymore.
CASA volunteer Vickey was assigned to the case and persisted in breaking down the isolation that kept Justine and her family at arms’ length from social support and safety. Through perseverance, CASA Vickey was able to visit Justine before CPS was.
Your generosity can bring relief to so many hurting families!
CASA Vickey could feel that something was going on when she first saw Justine: in Justine’s face, CASA Vickey saw so much fear. Vickey gently looked Justine in the eye and said “I know.”
Justine broke down in tears, and the abuse she kept secret for so long spilled out. Justine felt like she could open up to CASA Vickey: she told the CASA that she tried to shield everyone from the violence, hoping her husband would change. CASA Vickey and Justine spoke with the CPS caseworker, and Justine was safely escorted to a shelter for women experiencing intimate partner violence.
Your support can keep families safe!
Justine was 19 years old, living by herself for the first time in her life. She didn’t have a car or a job in the beginning, but she quickly did all she could to get her kids back: she transitioned out of the shelter and into a housing program, completed counseling, and worked on building up her self-esteem. At 19, Justine got a new job, a new car, and a new apartment all within six months. “Everything was lining up so I could get them back.”
Your generosity can keep families together!
Justine said she remembers CASA volunteer Ms. Vickey “would always check on me, ask how I was doing. She’d always call to see if I was okay. She’d ask how the visits were going and about counseling. She was so helpful in communicating the timeline and process, explaining how everything would go if I did what I needed to do to get my babies back.”
None of this was easy, but you made sure Justine and her family didn’t have to face their grief or separation alone.
Where would Justine be without the generosity of volunteers and donors?
The stress of COVID-19 is crashing down on vulnerable families like Justine’s, driving them further into isolation, dangerous abuse, and grief. CASA is assigning new volunteers to as many children as possible at all hours of the day, but we still have over 500 children in need of a champion to speak up for them. Will you give children like baby Isabella and big brother Camden a CASA? Will you help make sure they and their families don’t have to face foster care alone?