Voices for Children needs male volunteers in RivCo to advocate for foster kids

Are you looking for a meaningful way to give back in 2025? Are you a male, 21 years or older, who can spare 10 hours or less per month, knowing that these hours could make a lifetime of difference for a child who doesn’t have a permanent home or access to their parents?

According to research provided by Voices for Children, “the benefits of a positive, reliable adult male figure in childrens’ lives, especially boys,” have been proven. Unfortunately, only a portion of those boys in Riverside County who need role models have them.

That’s what Voices for Children wants to change. The nonprofit has put out an urgent call for compassionate and empathetic men in Riverside County to step up and become volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) for boys in the foster care.

Of the 5,900 Riverside County children in foster care annually, approximately 49% are boys, but only 17% of CASAs are male.

As of last month, there were 55 boys in Riverside County waiting for an advocate to be there for them — and more enter the system each day. Therefore, there is an immediate need for male volunteers — especially men of color and those who are bilingual in Spanish and English.

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What does a CASA do?

Unlike social workers, who often manage numerous children simultaneously, CASAs focus on one or two children at a time. This targeted approach enables them to foster trusting relationships and collaborate closely with social workers, caregivers, attorneys and other professionals. Their primary objective is to provide judges with comprehensive information to facilitate informed decision-making regarding children in foster care. Most importantly, CASAs advocate for the best interests of the child and ensure that their voices are heard.

“Children in the foster care system have lots of people in their lives who are concerned about their well-being,” says Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, president and CEO of Voices for Children. “They have social workers, they have attorneys, they have judges. They have foster parents as well. There are a lot of reasons why a child may start their foster care journey in one home and then move to another or another, and so a CASA provides a couple of different, really unique benefits — one is that the volunteer will work with the child no matter what home they’re living in or whether or not they move. And unlike social workers, who are responsible for serving lots of kids at once, a CASA focuses on one child or one sibling group at a time.”

CASA volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of experiences. No specific background is required to become a volunteer. All that’s needed is a willingness to undergo training and a commitment to the child they’re assigned to. Voices for Children trains volunteer CASAs to support youth in foster care during a challenging and often distressing time in their lives. CASAs advocate for these children’s needs in court.

“We need men in Riverside County to speak up for boys in foster care now,” Muñoz says. “Volunteering as a CASA is a concrete, actionable way to make a difference in the lives of children in your community. If you are looking for a way to give back, here is how you can step up now. Whether you are advocating in court, talking to a child’s teacher or doing simple things like teaching a child to ride a bike or cheering them on from the bleachers at sports games, your influence has a huge potential payoff for future generations.”

About Voices for Children

Founded in 1980, VFC transforms the lives of abused, neglected and abandoned children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside counties by providing them with trained, volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs). VFC believes every child deserves a safe and permanent home and strives to provide a CASA volunteer to every child in the foster care system who needs one. Last year, VFC CASAs and staff provided direct advocacy to nearly 2,300 youth in foster care across San Diego and Riverside counties as well as case monitoring services to hundreds of other children in foster care who might need an advocate in the future.

Read the first-hand experiences of a CASA.

To learn more about becoming a CASA, visit speakupnow.org.

Winston Gieseke is the philanthropy editor at The Desert Sun. [email protected].