Teen Advocate/Mentor

Essex County CASA has expanded our services to include mentoring for older teens in foster care. These services are in addition to a volunteer's duties as a CASA Advocate. (see The Role of an Advocate). Volunteer Advocates may choose to be a part of the mentoring program and work with a teen providing both advocacy and mentoring to help teens that are "aging out" of the foster care system to navigate the road to independent adulthood. Interested volunteers first go through the 30 hour CASA advocate training, then an additional 12 hour mentoring training.

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More about the Program:

CASA teenagers need more than advocates. They need mentors. They need specially trained adults who will work with them as they move from their teenage years into adulthood – forging a new pathway that will help them gain confidence for their next steps.

We have developed a new program that expands the services our foster teens receive to include mentors . . . a special role for you. In addition to working as an Advocate , you will spend quality time one-on-one with your young person helping them build a plan and move into their future.

As an Advocate you will complete 30 hours of training. Then as a Mentor candidate you will complete an additional 12 hours of training. Is this a lot of training? Yes. We are committed to giving our young people the best trained, the best-prepared advocate/mentors we possibly can. This is in your best interest as well as the teenager’s. We run a quality program! And when you complete the training you will be thoroughly equipped as advocate/mentor, and you will know that you can do the job.

Some of the following questions have been asked:

What kinds of things will I be doing as a Mentor?

As a Mentor, you will spend time with your mentee, the teenager, helping to guide them as they plan for their entry into adulthood. Your role is to listen, open opportunities, answer questions, help them focus, encourage. Your role is also to help them understand that they can do what they put their minds to.

Your teenager needs to complete high school, plan for and begin college or trade school or a career that will move him or her to into adulthood. Foster care does not necessarily prepare him or her for the things they must learn to be successful as an adult. Your job is to help him or her become prepared.

What does mentoring add to being an Advocate?

As an Advocate you will complete an independent investigation about the child’s circumstances while in foster care and make recommendations to the court. Part of your investigation includes conversations with the teenager. The ultimate goal of the investigation is to see that the child is placed in a safe and permanent home as soon as possible.

As a mentor, you will not just have conversations with the teenager to fact find; you will interact with him or her. You will develop a relationship with the mentee that will result in trust and movement toward goal setting and achievement with the teen. The ultimate goal of the mentoring activities is to help the teen become appropriately prepared for adulthood.

As an Advocate/Mentor you can – with the guidance and direction of your CASA Supervisor - meld these two activities together and see your protégé move into adulthood.

How long will I be mentoring the teenager?

Each case is individual. Sometimes a case may be ready to close at age 18 or when your teenager completes high school; sometimes the case may be held open until 21. This question is best answered at the time when the case is presented to you.

So how do I get started?

Becoming a CASA Advocate/Mentor is a process. First you must fill out an application to become an Advocate. You will be interviewed for acceptance into the program, and then trained as a CASA if accepted. Then next is the mentor training and an interview for that portion of the program. You will then be assigned a case and introduced to your CASA teen client.

To get started call, Carol Costello, Volunteer Director at 973-648-2814 or email at ccostello@casaessex.org.