Abe Ulug thinks the most important part of being a Court Appointed Special Advocate is a clear understanding of what being an advocate really means. The dictionary definition of an advocate is, “one who pleads the cause of another.” According to Abe, “I take that word advocate seriously, I try to remember I’m not a parent or a teacher - I try to wear the appropriate hat depending on the situation.”

Over the past seven years, Abe has been matched with two youths. He worked with the first one from the time the child was 15 until he aged out of the system at 21. That youth is now 23 and the two men still remain close. Abe was matched with his second youth, who recently turned 18, a couple of years ago.

Abe is soft-spoken and humble; he shares that he’s told only a handful of people about his work with CASA over the past several years. Despite his modesty, it’s apparent he has made a tremendous impact with his two youth. During his time with both boys, he has advocated on their behalf in ways both big and small. 

He mentions housing as an area where advocacy is often needed. Housing options can be limited and very hard to find, especially with older youth in the dependency system. Education is another area where his youth have benefited from a caring adult advocating for services on their behalf. “Sometimes they’re facing difficulties in school and that's an area where you can have an influence by meeting with their guidance counselor.”

Abe shares the story of his second youth who was prevented from playing on his high school volleyball team since he didn’t have the required medical clearance. Abe reached out to the social worker and got her to prioritize getting his youth the paperwork he needed to play for his team. According to Abe, “sometimes they don’t realize a single phone call can solve the problem.”

He shares another story about the obstacles his youth faced getting a job due to his immigration status. Abe said, “He was brought to this country as a child, and speaks perfect English, but didn’t have a Green Card to work…So for the past two years, he’s been trying to get a social worker to submit the paperwork which involves a lawyer and a paralegal. It’s finally been submitted but needed a lot of pushing to get it done since it seemed to remain on the ‘back burner.’  During all this time, he had to sit home and couldn’t work, which isn’t good for anyone.”

Abe’s shares some of the unique challenges faced by youth in foster care, “These kids have an uphill battle in life. My first kiddo went through some very rough days. There were periods when he was almost homeless.” He also shared how much tougher it is for kids in the dependency system than it is for their peers in traditional living environments. “Housing options are pretty restrictive like no pet policies. My kiddo has a cat which puts him in violation of that policy. The cat gives him some peace and that’s a good thing. My first kiddo got kicked out a number of times for violating zero drug policies; nothing severe yet, for the rest of the world, that’s just a part of the norm these days. These kids get penalized for things that others don’t.”

Before he signed up for the CASA training, Abe acknowledged that he had, “no clue about that side of the legal system.” According to Abe, “it’s a black box to the vast majority of the population. I learned so much in my CASA training and to this day, a lot of times when I get home, I Google things to learn more. I’m still learning acronyms about the court system and the text shorthand that my youth use.” 

Karyn Quick has been Abe’s only Advocate Supervisor since he began as a CASA. According to Karyn, “Abe has been a CASA for almost 7 years and is now working with his second youth. Abe provides encouragement, patience, support and a calm presence for the young adult he is working with. It’s been my pleasure to supervise Abe throughout his CASA journey.” 

When asked what advice he would offer to incoming CASAs, Abe returns to the theme of advocacy. “It’s important to grasp the concept of being an advocate and what it is and what it is not. You have to adopt an advocate mentality and not try to direct the youth into anything. If you can just try to have some influence and advocate for them, you’ll probably be a lot more effective.” 

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