Court Appointed Juvenile Advocacy B Oard of Marshall County

Right here in our community, there are abused and neglected children who live in the shadows of our lives. She may be the little girl in your son's kindergarten class, who had to leave her home and change schools three times in the last year. He may be the lonely child at the park with no adult accompanying him.

Every child has a right to feel safe, loved, and cared for. He has an undeniable right to learn and grow and become the person he is destined to be. He has a right to be treated as a human being, not a possession. He has a right to thrive.

In our society, the stewardship of a child's rights rests primarily with the family. With too many families in crisis, too many children are lost in the process. An overburdened system often leaves our children languishing for years without finding a stable home, sadly, only to "age out" of the system.

The solution is a single volunteer. More than a mentor or special friend, a Court Appointed Juvenile Advocate is specially trained to know what is in a child's best interest and how to get those interests met by the system. This deeply committed adult knows how to help a child through this time of great vulnerability. A CAJA will fight for the child, against all odds, against all power, against bureaucracy and shortsighted agendas. A CAJA will fight until that child understands he has a right to believe in himself. A CAJA will fight until her child can understand and advocate for her own inalienable rights. A CAJA fights for her child to attain a life of destiny, rather than fate.

CAJA volunteer advocates are the difference in an abused or neglected child's life. They give a child a voice. With a voice comes hope and a future. With hope comes the world.