New program aims to help older children in foster care

Voices for Children/CASA is recruiting volunteers for a new program that focuses on foster children age 14 and older.

Fostering Futures is intended to reverse the poverty, homelessness, criminal activity and low educational attainment that older children can get caught up in as they age out of the foster-care system.

"Our whole idea is to allow the youth to successfully transition out of foster care to adulthood," said Linda Nash, executive director of the organization formerly known as Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southeast Missouri.

Brooke Elfrink, a new volunteer coordinator for Voices for Children/CASA, is in charge of Fostering Futures.

She said the program's volunteers will do a little more than traditional volunteers, who serve as children's advocates in the court system.

The new crop of volunteers will advocate on children's behalf, but they also will mentor them and help them through the milestones any young person faces, such as getting a driver's license or applying for college.

"It's a little bit more intense than our normal volunteers, because (the new) volunteers will meet (with clients) on a bimonthly basis," Elfrink said.

Much of what the volunteers will do is help children set and attain goals.

"It is our hope that by the end of next fiscal year, we will have 12 Fostering Futures volunteers in place," Nash said.

The new volunteers will work with children in the 32nd Judicial District that includes Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties.

Special training sessions will take place at the end of this month and again in mid-summer.

Anyone interested in learning more is asked to call Voices for Children/CASA at (573) 335-1726.

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

937 Broadway, Suite 201, Cape Girardeau, Mo.