Change happens with people, an important aspect of the evolving narrative that surrounds the CAS.
CASDSM is a nonprofit organization that is deeply rooted in helping provide safe environments for children and youth through equitable, culturally aligned services. Partnership with parents, caregivers, and the community are one of the foundational elements to carry out the mission of this work.
Many get involved with the CAS Sudbury and Manitoulin during challenging and difficult times.
As part of a new initiative, a parent advisory committee has been created. It is within the parent advisory committee that we as an organization are able to enhance our impact for all parties involved. Caregivers are encouraged to get involved. As a parent advisory committee member, your voice is heard and influences future movements.
This is Lisa’s story
Lisa, now Co-Chair on the Parent Advisory Committee, got involved with the CASDSM many years ago.
Her story is one of resilience. Lisa entered the CAS world as a parent who needed support. Her involvement later grew into an opportunity to represent parents on the parent advisory committee. Change happens with people. Lisa is one of those people influencing change.
Creating a different reality
Lisa’s story is about a mother who needed to keep her two daughters safe and create a different reality for them. She is a mother who made a difficult decision and did what was necessary to ensure her daughters’ safety in their environment.
It’s the story of a mother who had the strength to open a file to protect her kids from the abuse of their father. This gave her the experience to work with CAS to understand what needs to happen to gain protection and to fully understand what it’s like to reach out for help and be supported by strangers. Her experience helps her understand what others are going through when they reach out to CAS for protection and support from strangers. These strangers are willing to go the extra mile to ensure the safety of your children.
Involved in a different capacity
Years later she would again find herself involved with the CAS Sudbury and Manitoulin. This time in a different capacity. As her oldest daughter gave birth, she found herself working with the CAS to become the primary caregiver. This gave her new hands-on experience engaging with CAS.
She got to see the process, support, and resources that are available for individuals becoming primary caregivers for children. On the flip side, she also saw the interactions that CAS Sudbury and Manitoulin had with her daughter.
“So many things had gone wrong leading up to my daughter delivering, including apprehensiveness at the hospital with staff knowledge and how the situation was handled, how interactions happened. The CAS is about protecting children against monsters. And there’s rules that can be changed for child safety, for how we view these situations, and the people involved,” — Lisa
Down the road, she would find herself back in the CAS world following the birth of a second grandchild. This experience was much different and provided a lens into involvement with the CAS Sudbury and Manitoulin when a newborn is entering the foster care system; a child who is now in Lisa’s care.
A unique view of CAS Sudbury and Manitoulin
Lisa has been involved with the CAS on multiple fronts, which gives her a very unique view of the organization. She’s been able to see and participate in various interactions with case workers, to understand the system and the processes involved. As such, she’s been able to identify areas that work well and areas that can be adjusted.
She witnessed the things that had gone right and the opportunities for improvement across all fronts including knowledge and interactions with the hospital staff.
She was presented with a rare opportunity to represent parents on the parent advisory committee. The opportunity to have her voice heard and to make a difference for others involved with the CAS. The CAS has a mission of protecting children. It is important to remember that when we are dealing with humans, there are many grey areas in the equation. It’s these grey areas that creates opportunities for improvement.
“Their voice is being seriously listened to, the issues that are brought up by the parent advisory committee and parents are taken into consideration and brought it farther,” — Lisa
If you have been involved with the CAS or if you resonate with our mission, we encourage you to get involved. One reaction for parents that have had experiences with the CAS is to be against the workers that have moved children or youth into other situations. But we encourage you to do the opposite.
“Social work school teaches things in a very black and white way, but when there’s humans involved there’s areas of grey, things that don’t have to be based so much on what’s in the book. So join the parent advisory committee, get involved, change happens with people,” — Lisa
You have a voice and with the CAS it is heard. The insights you bring to the organization while being on the parent advisory committee are necessary for future generations that will need to rely on and call on the CAS to keep children and youth safe.
