From Westminster to CASA
Local woman handles tough cases
By Jim Keogh

(L. to r.) CASA workers Nancy Lockwood, Elizabeth Tsang Johnson, Lynn Tesconi and Sue Ellen Scrogin. Journal Photo/Steve King

“I’ve been here six years. I’ve never been involved in another job with as much personal value.”

So says Lynn Tesconi of Westminster, the case supervisor for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Project Inc.

CASA is dependent on its volunteer corps, and offers the public a volunteer opportunity unlike any other, she says. The program was launched 30 years ago by a judge in the Seattle juvenile court system who complained that he was making life-changing decisions involving children without enough information. He began appointing citizens to work as advocates for the children in cases involving abuse, neglect and custodial placement.

Volunteers undergo 30 hours of training, learn the court system, and learn how to be the best possible advocates for children at risk. Typically, a CASA volunteer will only have one or two cases a year, but their mission is three-fold:

• To act as a fact finder, thoroughly researching the child’s background and current situation for the judge and providing a detailed report to the court. That may involve interviewing teachers, doctors, police and family members.

• Promote the child’s best interest in the courtroom to achieve the best possible outcome.

• And continue to report on the child’s situation throughout the life of the case, checking compliance with court orders and needed services, working to bring the case to a swift, appropriate conclusion and helping to ensure the child is in a safe, permanent placement.

All that may sound intimidating, and, to be fair, it “not exactly stuffing envelopes,” says Sue Ellen Scrogin, executive director of CASA Project Inc., the Worcester County branch of the organization.

But she’s quick to note that the training is thorough and CASA volunteers receive deep support from the agency and work closely with the Department of Social Services. No one is left swinging alone, she says.

The type of cases can vary widely, and may involve some of the more gruesome aspects of human behavior, including rape and incest, domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction and abandonment, says Tesconi.

She talks about some of the hardest cases: a baby born addicted to heroin and removed from his addict mother; a small boy removed from his home after being beaten by his caretakers, another child born to parents who are wellmeaning but don’t possess the mental faculties to care for him.

Depending on the individual case, efforts may be made to keep a family together if the parents can meet certain requirements, such as entering rehab, finding housing and employment. Other times, a foster or adoptive situation is a preferable outcome.

“We’re guardians ad litem — at law,” says Scrogin. “We’re appointed by a judge to serve in the best interest of a child.”

“The perception has been the parents have rights and children don’t. That’s where we come in,” Tesconi says.

Elizabeth Johnson Tsang of Holden was an English teacher for 30 years at Bancroft School in Worcester, the last 15 as chairman of the department. She loved her job, but when she retired she knew it was time to do something important with another group of children who didn’t have the same opportunities her students had.

So she became a CASA volunteer.

“This is something a person can do that contributes to civic life in a profound way,” says Tsang, who now works as CASA training and recruiting supervisor.

There are about 100 to 120 active CASA volunteers, and about 90 are currently assigned to cases.

“That’s not nearly enough to serve the needs of the children in the community,” says Tsang. She estimates another 100 volunteers are needed, and would like to see more men involved, noting that 50 percent of the children needing advocates are male, and less than 10 percent of CASA volunteers are men.

Says Tsang, “Kids are resilient, but they’re not infinitely resilient. In the wrong situation, a child can be permanently damaged.

“One of the biggest surprises to me when I came here was to learn that the history of child protection in this country is very short. The first book about child abuse was published in the mid-’60s and the first federal law to protection children was passed in the early 70s.”

CASA’s goal, Tesconi says, is to work with DSS and the courts to resolve cases involving children as expediently as possible, before that permanent damage can set in. She says some cases used to take six or seven years to wind down, at which point the domestic situation was beyond salvaging. Now, she says, many cases at least show a clear path toward resolution by the six-month mark.

The CASA ladies are proud of the organization’s track record. On National Adoption Day in November,

45 local children were adopted, and 18 of them had been involved in cases handled by CASA.

Volunteers come from all walks of life. Many are retirees, but others hold full-time jobs in other fields. CASA volunteers have been teachers, lawyers, doctors, police officers; some are college students. Some may only handle one case and decide it’s not for them, says Scrogin. Others are eager to move on to a new case when one is settled.

For information on volunteering opportunities with CASA, contact Elizabeth Johnson Tsang at (508) 757-9877, or liz@thecasaproject. org. Or visit www.thecasaproject.org.

CASA is beginning a new training session in Gardner in February either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays depending on the level of interest. If interested call (508) 757-9877. Check out the Web site at wwww.thecasaproject.org.