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| Library: Advocacy | |||||
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The Zen of Child Advocacy |
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| Document Author: National CASA - Carla Spaccarotelli,
Editor Publication: The Connection, Summer 03 Posted: 9/03 |
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Message
from the National CASA CEO, Michael Piraino I’m no expert on zen or Buddhism. But I have been learning a lot about the use of some aspects of zen thought in therapy, and I keep seeing more and more ways it is relevant to our advocacy for children. One is the idea that acceptance and understanding need not imply approval. For maltreatment victims, this can be very empowering. Understanding what happened without approving of it can be an important step in recovery. Understanding leads to change in our advocacy as well. We work with a system that often produces lousy outcomes for children. As advocates for individual children, we cannot accept those results even in a single case. But what do we do about that system? Some of the best therapists help their clients distinguish between what can be changed and what can’t. This might start by carefully identifying what the concerns really are. Examples of concerns are easy to find when we look at child protection systems. Most could be summarized with the words “not enough.” Not enough judges. Not enough judicial training. Not enough cooperation between courts and agencies. Not enough attorney training of attorneys. Not enough resources for courts. Not enough caseworkers. It all adds up to not enough time for children. Our volunteer advocacy is designed to help fill that last void. But what about overall changes to this system? Our approach to legislative advocacy, which you will read about in this issue of the Connection, has always been carefully targeted to be consistent with our independent, nonpartisan approach to speaking up for individual children. So, for example, the purpose of learning about the Child and Family Service Reviews is not to lament the fact that no state has passed. It’s more important to identify opportunities for system change on behalf of children. We should apply this learning approach to ourselves as well. For example, we all know that the great work of our volunteers needs to be better known. Despite a lot of time and attention in recent years, CASA’s public recognition level remains low. How can that be changed? According to the experts, better recognition comes only by creating some form of common identity across the 978 organizations in this network. The reality is either we create that identity, or we will have to accept levels of public recognition which do not meet our ambitions. Logos, taglines, photographs—all these can be changed to accomplish a goal that is important for children. But just as therapists say to their clients, we have to move through understanding to an acceptance of change. Our understanding must include the impact of both the child protection system and of our own advocacy for children. One of the great fears of many abuse victims is that disclosure will be worse than keeping quiet. A foster child once told me “I talked, and I paid for it.” He was referring to his schoolmates’ reaction when they learned he was in foster care. According to a 2002 study from the Vera Institute of Justice (Finkelstein, Wamsley and Miranda; What Keeps Children in FC from Succeeding in School), school-aged foster children are often apprehensive about the perceived stigma of their family status, and protective of the privacy of their personal stories. However, adults involved in these children’s lives are often less sensitive to the child’s sense of stigma. Foster parents, for example, typically did not think children felt any embarrassment at school related to their foster care status. Understanding this should lead us to think about the impact of disclosure of sensitive information about the child. A recent Florida court of appeals case balanced a child’s right to protect very sensitive mental health information with the guardian ad litem’s need to obtain information. The court ruled that the child was entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard before such information could be disclosed to the guardian ad litem. The court’s opinion included a sensitive consideration of the harm that can come to the child through the process: “Common sense also dictates that failing to permit a mature minor the opportunity to object to the involuntary disclosure of private and intimate details shared with a therapist can only have a negative effect on the minor’s relationship with both the therapist and the guardian ad litem and would often taint the minor’s perception of the fairness of the legal process.” S.C. v. Guardian Ad Litem, No. 4DO2-3414, p. 6. The case raises important questions about the need for confidentiality protections for children and continued efforts to reduce the damaging impact of legal processes on children. We often find it easier to understand than to change. One of the world’s greatest change agents, Mahatma Ghandi, once said “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” As advocates who insist on accountability from the public systems that are supposed to watch out for abused and neglected children, we should be the model of openness, accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness. We should be the model for both understanding and change on behalf of children. Then we will be the change we want to see in the world.
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