Skip to content
  • Our CASA Program
    • The CASA Model
    • Impact Report
    • Foster Care System
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Impact Stories
  • Ways to Give
  • Events
    • Judges’ Luncheon
    • Judges’ Reception
    • Uplifting Voices
    • Fostering Hope Golf Classic
    • Starry Starry Night
    • Real Word Speakers Panel
  • How to Help
    • Amicus Circle
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Raise Funds
    • Recommend a CASA
    • The Starfish Giving Circle
    • Shop
    • Spread the Word
    • Stay Connected
  • News
    • News Room
    • Voices for Children Blog
  • Who We Are
    • About Voices for Children
    • Leadership
    • Financials & Publications
    • Employment
    • FAQs
    • Hotlines & Resources
  • Our CASA Program
    • The CASA Model
    • Impact Report
    • Foster Care System
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Impact Stories
  • Ways to Give
  • Events
    • Judges’ Luncheon
    • Judges’ Reception
    • Uplifting Voices
    • Fostering Hope Golf Classic
    • Starry Starry Night
    • Real Word Speakers Panel
  • How to Help
    • Amicus Circle
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Raise Funds
    • Recommend a CASA
    • The Starfish Giving Circle
    • Shop
    • Spread the Word
    • Stay Connected
  • News
    • News Room
    • Voices for Children Blog
  • Who We Are
    • About Voices for Children
    • Leadership
    • Financials & Publications
    • Employment
    • FAQs
    • Hotlines & Resources
Volunteer
Donate

Help Create a Happier Holiday Season for Children in Foster Care

  • December 11, 2023
  • Voices For Children

[Riverside / San Diego], Calif. –  For many of us, the holiday season is full of excitement, celebration, family, warmth, and community. As we enjoy this time with loved ones, let’s work to create happier, more hopeful holidays for children in foster care who need our support.

When a family is in crisis that creates an unsafe situation, children are often removed from their homes and placed in foster care, far from everyone and everything they know. This holiday season, some of these children are spending the season in emergency shelters, group homes, or residential treatment centers. Those who are living with relatives or foster families over the holidays are still missing their homes and can feel sadness or loneliness during this time of year. Voices for Children urges you to support children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside Counties who are spending the holidays away from those they love and consider how you can make a difference. Voices for Children recruits and trains caring volunteers, known as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), to provide supportive services for youth in foster care and advocate for their needs.

“Sadly, for children we serve, the holidays can evoke complicated feelings and memories. This is where CASA volunteers can step in and make an impact by giving our community’s children moments of joy,” said Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, President & CEO at Voices for Children.

Appointed by a judge, a CASA volunteer’s priority is to advocate for what families need to stay together whenever safe and possible. When that is not possible, they can recommend that children live with another relative or close family friend to ensure that they can maintain connections to their family and community.

Take this true story for an example of the impact of CASA volunteers, Brothers Luis and Sean abruptly entered foster care in 2000 when they were 7 and 5 years old. Feeling lost and angry, the boys would go on to live in 11 different placements. However, things began to change when they were matched with CASA Art Tabanao. “CASA Art was the first true male role model that we had, advocating for us, making sure we were okay, that’s all we wanted, someone that was going to support us,” said Luis. Watch how CASA Art helped the boys find lifelong stability and how their lives have changed in the movie, “20 Years Later.”

Experiences like these are why CASA volunteers are so imperative in the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. They need someone who can get to know them and their unique situation, advocate for them, and help ensure they are surrounded by caring people who will support them even after their case ends.

According to the San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services, in the fiscal year 2022/2023, an average of 563 new child welfare cases were opened each month in San Diego alone, out of 791,797 children in our community. In the fiscal year 2021/2022 in Riverside County, 7,241 children were served. This past year, over 1,300 CASAs and Voices for Children staff supported more than 2,300 youth in foster youth between San Diego & Riverside Counties. But more children come into care across the region and need a CASA every day. Voices for Children is inviting more community members to become a part of the solution by becoming a CASA volunteer.

CASA volunteers get to know a child or sibling group on an individual level and speak with other important people in the child’s life, such as their parents and family, teachers, therapists, foster parents and more. With the information they gather, they develop a holistic understanding of their circumstances and needs and make recommendations to the court. They advocate first for family reunification whenever safe and possible. They also help find and engage family members and other adults who can serve as a network of support for the child and their parent or parents.

Consider becoming a CASA volunteer to look out for a child and give them and their family a better chance at a brighter future – and the happy holiday season they deserve. To learn more and sign up for an info session, visit speakupnow.org.

Share the Post:

Related Posts

Riverside County CASA of the Month – May 2025

Sibling relationships are often the longest-lasting connections in a child’s life. For youth in foster care, maintaining that bond can be a critical source of stability, comfort, and identity. When

Read More

San Diego County CASA of the Month – May 2025

At the heart of every Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer’s work is a commitment to show up, to listen, and to be a steady presence in a child’s life.

Read More

Riverside County CASA of the Month – April 2025

At Voices for Children, we are constantly inspired by the dedication and heart our CASAs bring to their advocacy. CASA Cynthia has been an unwavering force of compassion and support

Read More
Page1 Page2 Page3 … Page67

Get Involved

  • Volunteer
  • Spread the Word
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop with Purpose
  • Volunteer
  • Spread the Word
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop with Purpose

Get to Know Us

  • The CASA Model
  • Our Mission
  • Financials
  • Blog
  • The CASA Model
  • Our Mission
  • Financials
  • Blog

Connect

  • Staff
  • Employment
  • News Room
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Employment
  • News Room
  • Contact Us

Follow

Facebook Instagram X-twitter Linkedin Youtube

Copyright © 2025

Voices for Children · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Inclusion Policies · Accessibility Statement

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}