January 5th, 2014: Volunteering with CASA, Post-Katrina

Eight years after Hurricane Katrina, people in New Orleans still describe their lives in “before the Storm” and “after the Storm” terms. People still remember where they were when it hit and share their stories in vivid detail. The most outwardly apparent signs of Katrina’s lasting effect are blighted properties yet to be rebuilt. But the storm has had different ramifications on various parts of life.

I saw one such effect when volunteering at CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). The nonprofit matches neglected and abused children with volunteers who advocate in court for their best interests.

In the chaos of Katrina, many children disappeared, or were neglected or abandoned. “If another storm were to hit tomorrow, we wouldn’t have a record of all of our kids in one place, and we wouldn’t know where they all were,” said Joy Bruce, the Executive Director at CASA. In the aftermath of the storm, volunteers and DCFS workers struggled just to ensure their children were alive and well ¾ filing paperwork understandably fell to the wayside. But this dealt a blow to the infrastructure, as CASA started to lose track of the files of many children in the system. So we spent our week sorting through stacks of case files and updating an electronic record of the children CASA had worked with.

            A child entering the foster care system begins a race against time to return to permanency. From the dozens of stories I read, I surmised that the longer a child stays in the system, the more likely she is to never be adopted or reunited with her family; and the less likely she is to do well in school, go to college, or acquire job training.

            These sobering realities seemed at first to contrast sharply with the bright, vibrant city we saw around us. Yet I began to feel that the New Orleans’ vivacious spirit and warm hospitality didn’t come in spite of it’s struggles, but perhaps became more pronounced because of them.

 Mehreen Rasheed