More volunteers sought as advocates for children

BROWNSVILLE - She has worked with the same case for two years, assisting three children removed from their home after their great-grandfather molested the middle child.

Carol Berryman, a court-appointed special advocate, has remained at their side through every phase of their grievous journey, speaking for them at their schools, during appointments with Child Protective Services, standing up for them in court, and even speaking with them during visits with their family.

"We are appointed by the court to do an independent investigation and stay in contact with the children and other people who revolve around them," Berryman said late one morning at CASA of Cameron & Willacy Counties on Price Road.

She and Alicia Cardenas, executive director, were discussing the need for more volunteers.

"In Brownsville, we have seen an increase in sexual abuse of children," said Cardenas, herself a 38-year-old mother of two. "We just received a case of a little boy who was sexually abused by an older brother. We need to find a trained volunteer. We definitely need advocates. Right now we have 47. We need 300 more. It's a total of about eight hours a month. We have every volunteer with one child (or a sibling group) at a time, to give it all their attention."

Berryman, who has children and grandchildren of her own, said she's the only person who has stayed with the youngsters in her case throughout their ordeal; five different CPS caseworkers and two judges have handled the case. The kind of consistency offered by CASA volunteers can make all the difference for these young people, as indicated in a quote from a former CASA child on the organization's brochure. It says, "Many of the people around me were changing ... but she stayed there, she was the one familiar face I could always make out."

Berryman pressed her lips together, exasperated, and dropped her hand onto a thick file.

"This is the paperwork for this one case," she said.

That file tells the story of three children who were in the custody of their great-grandparents two years ago; the children called them their grandparents because they had raised the children's mother. The great-grandfather is now on probation for molesting the girl, who was 8 at the time; that child has been in 13 placements during the past two years because of severe temper tantrums. Three of those placements were hospitalizations.

"You could predict the pattern that would happen and you could predict the time. The foster parents would say, ‘I can't handle this.' All the children are on very strong meds for emotional stability, bipolar, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder)."

Families struggling with sexual guilt and the fear of public humiliation often resent the involvement of a CASA volunteer, putting people like Berryman in an awkward situation.

"At times there is hostility," she said. "CPS reminded them they needed to cooperate with CASA. The great-grandmother doesn't want to talk about it anymore. She's depressed, on tranquilizers. The great-grandfather just had surgery for cancer."

Being a court-appointed special advocate requires a strong and gentle heart; a volunteer must be a rock of security for the child.

"You've got to remain objective," Cardenas said. "That means you have to set all your feelings aside to do what's in the best interest of the child, not what the child wants or what the parent wants, but what the child needs. A lot of times they want to go back home to mom or dad or the perpetrator."