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Kelly Capen Douglas made a career change in October 2019 and joined Voices for Children as President & CEO. Douglas is a native of San Diegan who worked here for 26 years with a major law firm and then as General Counsel at the University of San Diego as an attorney. After many years, Douglas was ready for a new challenge to apply the skills she had developed throughout her career.
The Voices for Children mission inspires them every day. “Every child deserves a stable and permanent home and someone who stands up for them, believes in them, sees their gifts and lets them know that they are important.”
For many foster children, that “someone” is their court-appointed voluntary special attorney, or CASA, who is recruited, trained, and supported by Voices for Children.
“I love waking up every day knowing that we are providing vital advocacy and caring support to the most vulnerable children in our community and showing that we care about them,” said Douglas.
Voices for Children helps foster children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and need a supportive adult in their life. You will be matched with a trained volunteer attorney who will ensure that their needs are met.
Voices for Children is the only organization authorized by the Superior Courts in San Diego and Riverside Counties to conduct an advocacy program.
“Last year we supported more than 1,400 volunteers and supported more than 2,600 children in San Diego and Riverside counties from birth to 21 years of age,” said Douglas.
As with all organizations, the pandemic posed a major challenge to the work of Voices for Children.
In addition to the fear of a pandemic, the children in foster families were confronted with greater obstacles to development than their peers due to their past trauma. Her life was already marked by moving into a new home, a new school and suddenly meeting social workers, lawyers and judges.
Children in foster families are also disproportionately affected by economic inequalities such as food insecurity and homelessness. With younger children, many of their foster families have seen changes in their employment. Many older youths lost their jobs and struggled to make ends meet.
In San Diego, the number of children enrolled on the care system in April, May, and June 2021 rose 31 percent compared to the same months last year.
“Given these challenges, our top priority has been to equip our CASAs to continue supporting their children and to maintain a strong pipeline of new CASA volunteers to meet demand as children join the system,” said Douglas .
Voices for Children also offers CASAs for teenagers working their way through probation. Most children in the juvenile justice program have a history of abuse or neglect, which makes advocacy and support from a CASA even more important.
“We are committed to providing a CASA for every foster child in need, evaluating every child enrolled in the San Diego County’s foster care system, and identifying children with the highest needs that are placed on a waiting list be set for a CASA. “Said Douglas.
Voices for Children is constantly looking for CASA volunteers who are passionate about helping the community’s vulnerable children. More information is available at www.speakupnow.org.
About this series
Lallia Allali is a member of the Union-Tribune’s Community Advisory Board. She is a management coach and volunteer. She chairs the English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) for the San Diego Unified School District.
Someone San Diego Should Know is a weekly column written by members of the UT’s Community Advisory Board about local people who are interesting and noteworthy because of their experience, accomplishments, creativity, or references.
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