As far as becoming a CASA, it varies from state to state and county to county. Sadly, some areas don’t have the funding to train volunteers for the position, so they’re just not there. I’d do a Google search for CASA in your area, as a start, or contact your local social services agency to see what programs they have available. As far as being the person who physically removes the child, to my understanding that’s usually done by a social worker, sometimes with police backup. Since you’re studying criminal justice, you might want to look into someday going into the kind of police work that deals with situations of abuse and neglect. And kudos for that, as well–it isn’t an easy field, and the rewards are intangible, to put it lightly–I admire your dedication and passion!!

I don’t know why you’d want that particular job. You do know that the children are crying and reaching for their parents when it happens. Children still want their parents, no matter how abusive those parents are. It’s the most heartbreaking thing to watch children scream and cry because strangers are taking them away from the parent who just left bruises on their body. They don’t understand what’s happening. I admire the police for what they do in cases like that, and I’ve had to be the one who has personally driven a hysterical child to the hospital upon removal from a home, and then to a foster home where the child just screams that they want their mother or father, and it’s just awful. Ripping families apart, even very, very unhealthy ones, isn’t an enjoyable part of any social service job.

I admire your passion for helping young children. I too get really upset when I hear stories about these so-called parents. I have been pregnant a few times and I always have a miscarriage during the second trimester…I’m not sure why. There many couples that want kids and are having trouble having them or can’t have them at all, and here are these MONSTERS that have this blessing and can’t appreciate the beauty of being a parent.

MY QUESTION: How can I become a CASA or work as those people from the state who physically take those kids away? I know it’s a dangerous job, but that’s a risk that I am willing to take to save a child’s life. No innocent child should be exposed to neglect or abuse of these unfit parents. It’s really sad and heart breaking.

In my opinion (sounds harsh) if they want to treat their kids like animals, then they should be treated like one and be ordered to not have children. CASTRATE THEM!!

Thanks for your time!!

And yeah, I’d say that your years of social work have definitely “paid it forward” for a few decades of inaction. And who the hell ever said that raising good, decent children wasn’t contributing something charitable to the world?

Who knows, I may get into this and start counting the days until my one-year initial commitment is up. But I have to give it a shot, because the arthritis has set in and punching walls is no longer an option

I can sympathize with your feelings, but in reverse. I was a social worker for a long time and it was a very draining but rewarding job. The pay was so low that it was almost like charity–with the occasional free lunch. But typically, people don’t go into social work to get rich.

But, the past few years I’ve felt a little guilty because I haven’t been doing anything to really help anyone else. I used to volunteer at the church, and my middle child and I used to visit the nursing home, but for the past three years, I have done NOTHING. But, I like to convince myself that all those years of the intense work (my first job was like 60 hours a week, pulling double or triple shifts with regularity because they were understaffed and I was childless, so I could) kind of “pays forward” and covers me now, lol. I don’t know whether that’s just a form of denial, but I just feel like the past few years, it’s all I have in me to get to the end of the day and not fuck up the people I’m responsible for in my house. I can’t imagine taking on anyone else right now. I hope that this changes in the future and I can get myself back on track, but for now, this is the best I can do.

So, good for you, though, making that decision to get out there and make a difference. It is really, really important.

And I wish God would speak to me a little more clearly. I’ve been feeling a little abandoned by Him the past few years. If you could put in a word for me, that’d be great.