A few years back, Barb Patz was busy coaching her daughters in multiple sports; her weekends and evenings filled with a blur of activity. According to Barb, volunteering as a coach, “filled her volunteer bucket.” Then Covid hit and Barb felt the loss of that connection. She deeply missed volunteering so she started looking online for other ways to contribute her time. She found CASA, signed up, completed all of her training online in 2020, was sworn in by Judge Craig Arthur on Zoom, and was assigned her first CASA match.

Barb said, “Being a new advocate during Covid made connecting difficult, but in the five years since then, I’ve enjoyed the many opportunities CASA has provided to connect. I’ve loved the book club and the speakers at the CASA conference like David Ambroz, who spoke about his book A Place Called Home: A Memoir. We read his memoir as part of our CASA book club. The events are so comfortable and they give us time to talk with each other. It’s very inclusive. The theme last year was, ‘Connection’ and I feel like CASA really brought that home.” Barb also attends ongoing CASA training sessions and said, “I really enjoy the training;  it helps me be a better teacher, a better CASA and a better mother.”

Her first match was in a fairly stable environment and only needed the support of a CASA for a short time. Barb was then matched with *Myra who, according to Barb, has been through a lot during her time in care. Barb said, “She ran away many times and spent time unhoused and living in a park. At one point my CASA supervisor wasn’t even sure if Myra was going to remain in the system.” Myra was eventually missing for such a long period of time that her case was about to be closed, so Barb was matched with a new youth, *Marina. Then, as Barb reports, “Myra came back! So now I have two youth who I advocate for and am doing double time!” She added, “My own daughters are now in high school so they’re driving and very independent and understanding of my time with my two CASA youth.”

Barb said, “In the time we’ve been together, Myra doesn’t always come to me for things but she always knows I’m there for her. If she’s really struggling, I can provide gift cards for Goodwill or Amazon. I’d go visit her when she was in juvenile hall and she knew that I was there for her even if she didn’t always want to engage.” Although both cases have been challenging, there have been wins along the way like Myra completing high school and graduating while serving time in juvenile hall. 

Myra recently became a mother and has become more open to asking Barb for advice. “Since Myra had her baby, she’s engaged with me more and seems to have matured. We have had more Child & Family Team meetings and I let her know that I’m there and proud of how she’s doing. She’s now in supportive housing for new moms and that’s been the longest she’s lived anywhere in the time I’ve known her. She’s starting to help other moms and learning to advocate for herself. She wants to go to community college and just signed up for summer classes. She’s really changed in the past 6 months and I’m really proud of her since she didn’t really have any examples of how to be a mom,” said Barb.

One of the biggest challenges for Barb is watching her younger youth, Marina skip school since Barb’s background is teaching. “She’s never been tested and she’s not receiving any help so it’s really challenging and frustrating.” Barb described the many barriers to getting youth like Marina and Myra to go to school. “These kids aren’t going to school because they have so much on their plate. We need to give these kids more grace, and principals and teachers need to be more understanding of the help they need.” She continued, “They don’t have role models who are around or who can guide them in any way. They’re adolescents going through puberty which is already such a hard time. And they’re living with a complete stranger or in a group home where they’re just trying to survive, so the furthest thing from their mind is a math test or reading a book. In the case of my youth who was homeless, she was just worrying about where her next meal was going to come and how she could stay safe. When you’re surrounded with negative distractions like drugs, alcohol and addiction, that’s taking up mental space in a way that’s different from a youth who’s supported and loved.”

Throughout her time with CASA, Barb has been able to rely on her Advocate Supervisor, Jennifer Zavala for guidance and feedback. Barb said, “Jennifer is a blessing. She’s amazing. Any time I need to talk with her, she gets back to me right away. Now that I’ve been doing this for a while, I don’t need to reach out to her as much as I used to, but if I ever need anything, she’s there for me.” 

Jennifer said she nominated Barb to be featured as the May Advocate of the Month because, “Barb is the most patient CASA I have yet to work with. She is extremely resilient and not afraid to take on a challenge. Barb took on a second case and really advocated for her youth’s educational needs and for visits with her siblings. Barb attends all of her youths’ team meetings and is very connected to all team members.”

Barb described her deep commitment to CASA, “I try to recruit people all the time and I donated for the first time this year. I pray for these young ladies, their babies, their families and their situations. I want the best for them,” She continued, “CASA is amazing, the training is wonderful. It’s helped me be a better human being. I love going to the CASA events, meeting with other advocates, and hearing about how their youth are doing and how the whole CASA system works. I feel like all the other CASAs and staff are just amazing humans. I love going to events and being surrounded by such caring people. When I went into this, I really wanted to help kids, but I feel like they're really helping me to open my eyes to the real world. I’ve gotten so much out of meeting other advocates, the training, my supervisor Jennifer, and Regan, the CEO.”  

If you’d like to learn more about becoming a CASA, please email Norma Mendoza or sign up to attend an upcoming Information Session. 

*Names changed to protect privacy