Each year, thousands of children in San Diego and Riverside Counties spend time in the dependency system (commonly known as foster care.) At no fault of their own, their lives are turned upside down, and they enter a world of … Continue reading
Local Mentoring Programs, and Why We’re Not One of Them
January is National Mentoring Month, and we’d like to take this opportunity to highlight an important distinction: the difference between a mentor and a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Volunteer mentors provide guidance, advice, and a positive influence to youth … Continue reading
Challenging Behaviors: What Children Are Telling Us
Written by Madison Pope, Senior Advocacy Liaison, and Suzanne Severance, Senior Advocacy Supervisor Our core values at Voices for Children begin with, “We cherish children and put them first, always.” The volunteers who choose to serve as Court Appointed Special … Continue reading
History of Voices for Children – Founding and Milestones
In 1980, Kathryn F. Ashworth, Esq., and Elizabeth Brainard Bacon discovered a recently developed, volunteer-based model of supporting children in foster care and, using that framework, co-founded Voices for Children (VFC). With the start of a new fiscal year this … Continue reading
History of Foster Care
Every year, thousands of children in the United States enter the juvenile dependency system, also known as foster care, after experiencing abuse, abandonment or neglect. The name “juvenile dependency” stems from the fact that youth in foster care are considered … Continue reading