Casa Kids

It's been a while since I posted. I've been wanting to write about my children at Casa De Amparo where I work as a volunteer, but all volunteers must agree, prior to starting work, not to write about specific children. As a writer, that's frustrating of course,  but I understand. Their cases are unique, and they must be protected. I can however, tell you a little, in general terms, about Casa is and what we do there.
Casa De Amparo is a facility housed in Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California. In Spanish, it means House of Refuge, and they take in children who become wards of the state. The children live at the facility in a place called "The Unit." There are classrooms on the premises, and I work in the elementary classroom.
Usually, these kids have been pulled from their homes because the parents are on drugs or alcohol, and sometimes abuse and/or neglect of the children is involved, but certainly not always. Sometimes one or both of the parents are in prison. We've had kids who have been rejected from their foster homes. The children are supposed to stay at Casa for about six weeks, but it's usually much longer. It can be at least a year for some.
Before I retired as an elementary schoolteacher, I had foster chilren placed in my classroom at times. During those busy days, I often felt like I wanted to spend more time with them, but there was only so much I could do in the time they were with me. It left me wanting to do more. Now, I have the time, so I filled out the 30 pages of questions the Casa volunteer coordinator handed me; I got my fingerprints and TB Test done; I left them references; and finally, one month later, I was cleared for work.  
Heading out to the mission on my first day, I really didn't know what to expect. I'd only had one foster child in my classroom at a time, and this was a classroom filled with them. I wondered if I'd be able to handle it, but I needn't have worried. You couldn't ask for a sweeter bunch of children. For the most part, they're like children everywhere, wanting to please and eager to learn. I found myself forming attachments quickly - in part because there are so few of them.
They can come and go quickly. One day, one of the sweetest kids was gone when I got to school. Just an empty seat. No good-byes - it can happen that fast. That part is hard. We can also recieve children just as fast. One day, boom! Two new children! Because it is an elementary classroom, we can have a child in every grade, which requires a lot of planning curriculum-wise. But the freedom to work without the constraints of large numbers is amazing! The attention we're able to give each child is remarkable, and now that I know what it can be like, it would be very hard to return to a public classroom to teach again.
I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. I will say this: if you locate a facility near you and give a little volunteer time to the children there, the benefits can be tremendous - for both you and the children. Yes, you'll likely have to jump through a few hoops before you are cleared as a volunteer, but I think you're worth it - and so are the kids! This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. This is syndicated from Kathe Gogolewski's Amazon Blog. 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