Issued March 13, 2020 (updated 5/15/2020):

NOTE: If you have any questions or concerns about potential Coronavirus symptoms, please call the Prince George’s County Health Department Coronavirus hotline at (301)883-6627 during 8:00am – 8:00pm to receive updated information about the coronavirus disease. *Please contact 911 for medial emergencies only. Do not contact 911 for Coronavirus related issues.

CASA’s offices remain closed due to stay-at-home orders. However, our work continues. The safety of the children we serve, our volunteers and our staff is of paramount importance. We have taken prudent measures to help keep people safe, while continuing to fulfill our critical mission. We have adjusted our practices and protocols to prioritize safety while still supporting our essential advocacy for children in need. As the situation is constantly evolving, we will continue to evaluate our practices and response, and this page will be updated to reflect the most recent information for our community.

On May 6, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Karen Salmon announced that all Maryland public schools will remain closed through the remainder of the academic school year. Distance learning will continue.

As of May 15, Prince George’s County remains in local stay-at-home orders until June 1, 2020. 

Child Visits

As of March 19, 2020 CASA suspended all in-person visits with our children and youth.This decision was made in consultation with the Department of Social Services, our CASA colleagues around the State, and our foster care agency partners. To protect the health of all, we continue to abide by the social distancing protocols that are unique to this crisis.

Staying in contact with children or youth during this period of social distancing is as important as ever. Children and teens are impacted by the unknown, and that fear can manifest itself in depression, anxiety or concerning behaviors. Volunteers being available to youth and their caregivers to check in, lend support, or facilitate communication continues to be a very important CASA role. Each volunteer is expected to maintain contact with their youth by video chat or phone call once per week. See here for tips from our colleagues on how to set up video chats. Additional contact can be made by text, email or phone. Each youth is unique and your communication should be tailored to their age and willingness to “chat.”  Some volunteers should be checking in with caregivers, rather than children based on age or developmental level. Consult with your Case Supervisor to determine the level of communication that is right for you.

Case Supervisors continue to work remotely and can be reached by email are in weekly contact with volunteers to check in and offer support.

• It is important that CASA volunteers stay in contact with their CASA youth to make sure they continue to be safe and healthy. During this period, we require weekly contact via phone or FaceTime (or a similar video conferencing tool) during the hiatus of in-person visits. Video calling is preferred to allow for visual check-ins, however phone calls are acceptable if video calling is unavailable. Texting, emailing, and chatting are acceptable ways to supplement communications.
• Staying in contact is particularly important because schools are closed. CASA volunteers can check in with children and their families (foster and biological) in an effort to ensure that they are maintaining their physical and mental health, that they are able to complete any assigned schoolwork, that they have a sufficient supply of medication, and to support them through any anxiety that they may be feeling at this time. We are regularly checking in and making sure that older youth and families have enough groceries and other supplies.

If a youth or family member is experiencing a true mental health crisis, the following resources are available-

Call the Crisis Hotline 301-429-2185 for a mental health crisis or suicide prevention, mobile response
Call 211 for County hotline services including mental health crisis or suicide prevention (no mobile response).

Tips for volunteers-To support a child and their family, when making weekly check in calls, inquire about items such as:

• Health of all household members — physical and mental
• How are school/distance learning assignments being completed? Distance learning information is on the PGCPS website. What was sent by the district/teacher? Is the teacher available via email to help, if needed? Could the CASA assist virtually? For Prince George’s County students, content will be offered through Google Classrooms and there is both independent work as well as virtual and recorded lessons. Talk to your youth and their foster family about the plan for how to access and complete their work.
• What is the family doing to keep busy daily?
• Is anyone in the household still working outside the home?
• Has the child/children had any issues behaviorally since being home?
• If the child’s visitation has been suspended due to COVID-19, have they been able to stay in touch with their parent/sibling(s) by phone?
• Is the household having any other challenges? (Financial, shortage of food, childcare for healthcare workers/first responders, etc.)
• Are there upcoming non-urgent medical/dental appointments for the child/children, and if so, has DSS been consulted to determine whether these appointments should be postponed?
• Does the caretaker have supportive individuals they are relying on right now to stay calm and healthy?
• For more information, please see the National CASA GAL Association’s guidelines on safely staying in contact with children during this time.

Here are some great tips and tools from our colleagues at CASA Wisconsin for setting up video calling, ideas for activities you can do virtually and guidance on advocacy at a distance.

Resources for Kids and Families

Here are some resources you can share with kids and parents/foster parents while schools are closed:

Mental health resources.

Access to free meals:

• List of meal sites in Prince George’s County, searchable by zip code. 
• Grab and Go meals through the school.
• Meals for children and families.
• Free meal sites for kids throughout Maryland and Virginia.
• List of food assistance resources through Prince George’s County. 

Education and Technology:

• Prince George’s County Public Schools Distance Learning Program. Students should receive an invitation to Google Classrooms and information from their teacher to their school email account.
• Free internet access for low income customers.
• PGCPS will turn on WiFi access points at several schools throughout the county to allow students and staff to connect from the parking lot of these sites, starting Tuesday, April 14.
• Resources for students with disabilities. 
• Information for students with IEPs and 504 Plans.
• Scholastic Learn from Home site.
• Prince George’s County Memorial Library branches are closed. Online resources are still be available via your library card. Learn more. They have also launched a Spring-Into-Reading Challenge!
• Sample schedules to keep some structure to the day.
• Free access to educational resources.
• Enrichment activity ideas.
• Virtual field trips. Virtual museum tours.

Employment:

• Resources for job seekers. 
• Assistance for laid off workers- Prince George’s County residents who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for a $200 EPG Visa Cash Card. Applications are open at employpgedge.com. Priority will be given to Prince George’s County residents who were earning $19 or less per hour prior to their layoff.
• Childcare for essential workers.

Legal:

• Community Legal Services staff are working remotely to continue to assist with civil legal questions including family law, landlord & tenant, and domestic violence. Their services are available online at www.clspgc.org or via their hotline at 240-391-6370.

The fear and anxiety that many of us are feeling may only be compounded for the children and youth we serve who have also been affected by trauma, and may trigger trauma-associated thoughts/behaviors in/from the child or create additional tension in the child’s home or placement. Advocates must remember that advocacy for a child is holistic and is always much wider than the child themselves. Please be sure to make phone contact with anyone else involved with the child’s case during this time to determine what their status is currently in relation to the child in question (if services are suspended, being offered remotely, etc.) This includes contact with biological parents, if the child is not currently in their custody. Be sure to make contact and help connect them with needed resources they may be seeking – the same as you would the child’s current caretaker.CASA Volunteers can be a support to resource and biological parents during normal times, and this situation is no different. Volunteers are encouraged to check in with caretakers regularly as a form of support and to lend a listening ear. Parents may be struggling with distance learning school work, children’s lack of traditional routine or lack of services that support our children (therapy, visitations, after school activities, etc) All of these things may cause trauma reactions for children that already have a history of trauma. Caretakers and CASAs should be aware of this and have behavioral management tools to support youth if needed.

It is vital to have eyes on the children we serve in any way possible to help them stay calm and connected. Not seeing a child in these most stressful, difficult times when connections are most valuable could undo all of the work done to create a relationship. We therefore encourage the volunteer to maintain regular contact with the child either through the use of Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, or FaceTime (or other non-video tools if needed), especially where kids are in congregate care settings, such as shelters or RTCs.

Here are some tips on talking to kids about COVID-19.

Presenting in Court

The Prince George’s County Circuit Court has issued an Administrative Order closing the Courthouses to the public. We know there will be limited hearings, but it is unlikely that regularly scheduled CINA hearings will proceed unless there is a statutory time limitation period to consider. The Court is attempting to respond with remote participation options. We are in touch with the Department of Social Services and the Court and will take their lead about meetings and hearings.

Contact with Case Supervisor

• Staff and volunteers will utilize telework technologies to complete work and engage in supervision. CASA staff will maintain contact with you through phone, video calls and email. Please stay in touch with your supervisor weekly and check your email messages often so we may communicate with you quickly.
• Regular Case Supervision will proceed, as required, via phone or video call.
• Court reports and volunteer contact logs will be especially important during this time (contact note and activity forms can be found here https://pgcasa.org/toolkit/). Unless otherwise directed by your Case Supervisor, please plan to submit your court report on the original due date.

Trainings, Events, Info Sessions & Other Group Activities

All CASA in-person trainings sessions and information sessions are cancelled until further notice.

We know that our best source of new volunteers is the recommendation of a current volunteer advocate, and we still have big goals for recruitment this year in order to help the 300 children who still need a CASA.

We want our current volunteers to know that we’re equipping ourselves to continue recruiting, and we are holding volunteer information sessions and pre-service trainings virtually through an online, video conferencing tool. We are also holding online in-service trainings.

We are currently evaluating all future group activities and events for our children, volunteers and supporters. We will make timely, appropriate decisions prioritizing the safety of our community and will immediately inform all affected by any decisions to postpone or cancel activities.

Continuing Education During Social Distancing

Use this time of self-quarantine and “social distancing” to better yourself and your community by gaining additional knowledge for your CASA role. We have many resources available for virtual in-service opportunities on our In-Service Training page. We are also looking into online learning tools and will keep you posted on virtual in-service trainings we will make available.

Stay Informed

We encourage all of our volunteers, staff and supporters to stay informed and protect themselves and others. As this is ongoing, we will make any needed updates to our protocol on this

We will update this page and will inform our staff and volunteers of urgent changes via email.

You can follow local updates through the Prince George’s County Department of Health and recommendations on the Maryland State Health Department’s COVID-19 website https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/Pages/Novel-coronavirus.aspx

Prince George’s County resources and status of county agencies. 

Recommendations from the CDC can be found here. 

This is uncharted territory for our CASA program, we appreciate your support and feedback on this guidance. We greatly appreciate your attention to this information and guidelines to help protect you and the children we serve.

Questions? Call us at 301-209-0491 or email us (staff@pgcasa.org) with any questions or concerns you have may have.

 

We are grateful to the following funding partners that are making it possible to provide additional emergency support to our children and families:

Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services

CASA’s Executive Director, Ann Marie Binsner, served on an expert panel regarding the challenges of foster care, hosted by the Many Hands giving circle. During the panel, Binsner and the other panelists described to the audience the reasons children come into care, the current state of foster care and the trends and challenges currently facing child welfare professionals. One of the trends impacting youth is the high number who are aging out of foster care after essentially growing up in out of home placements.

“Take a minute and think about the greatest young person you know…maybe your own child,” she challenged the audience. “Now imagine that same young person and take away all the supports. No one to make sure they achieved those major and minor milestones. Goals and dreams are never even set. Then they turn 21 and are emancipated, on their own.”

CASA recently received a grant from the Many Hands giving circle to help youth as they prepare for adulthood by improving their employment outcomes. As the panel shared, the needs of youth in foster care are intense and it is essential to walk hand in hand with them to provide the support necessary to build a path towards a successful future. 

For more information on the panel, see the full article. 

CASA is proud to announce that we are the 2019 Tom Marmet Memorial Job Readiness Grant From Many Hands. CASA will utilize this grant to create a job readiness initiative to improve outcomes for older foster youth preparing to transition out of foster care to adulthood. Through one-on-one support from their CASA volunteer and being connected to appropriate workforce development and employment opportunities, CASA will help youth attain and sustain employment and build a career path that will foster a stable adulthood.

CASA staff will work with youth and their CASA volunteers to conduct assessments, develop goals around workforce development and job seeking; coordinate meetings and provide training and support volunteers to ensure goals are actualized. CASA will create and maintain relationships with stakeholders, community resource providers, potential employers and stakeholders. CASA will make connections with different opportunities based on the needs and interests of the youth to ensure tailored plans for each individual. CASA will provide support to youth ages 14-21 and ensure that their individualized plan becomes reality. To learn more about these efforts or provide workforce development or employment opportunities to youth in foster care, please contact Phil Lartigue. 

Please see the press release below for more information. 

Many Hands Inc. Announces 2019 Grantees

At its May 16th annual meeting, Many Hands members heard from four Washington, DC area nonprofit organizations which will receive grants totaling $275,500 in four focus areas: Education, Health, Housing and Job Readiness.

Many Hands is a women’s grant making organization committed to collective giving which benefits local women, children and families in need. Each year, Many Hands grants $100,000 to help one area nonprofit expand its mission. This year we awarded three additional grants of $58,500 each. Fundraising has increased steadily each year since Many Hands was founded in 2004, resulting in over $1,678,000 in grants to area nonprofits.

$100,000 Many Hands Grant

$100,000 Education Grant: Access Youth
Access Youth works to keep at-risk Washington, DC youth in school and out of the criminal justice system by reducing chronic truancy and suspensions, and promoting restorative justice as an alternative to punishment. Access Youth addresses behavioral problems and student disputes through individual mediation and by teaching life skills and conflict resolution.

Access Youth served 555 students this year at Ballou, Eastern, and Anacostia high schools in the District of Columbia, and is in the process of expanding from a one year to a four year model, and from three to ten Washington, DC schools. With the 2019 Many Hands $100,000 grant, Access Youth will develop its first peer mediation program, training student leaders to serve as peer mediators for their school communities.

$58,500 Health: The Greater DC Diaper Bank

The Greater DC Diaper Bank provides basic baby and personal hygiene products to families in need. Supplies like diapers are distributed by partner organizations and serve as gateway resources to introduce hard to reach families in DC, Maryland, and Virginia to medical, mental health, housing, and employment services. The Diaper Bank helped over 9,000 families this year, with 7.5 million diapers, 436,000 hygiene products, and 185,712 eight-ounce bottles of infant formula.

$58,500 Housing Grant: New Endeavors by Women
New Endeavors by Women runs seven transitional and permanent housing programs, providing shelter and support to approximately 200 formerly homeless women and children. Clients include seniors, HIV Positive women, survivors of domestic violence and women with mental illness and substance dependency. Along with housing, New Endeavors offers education, life skills, employment, substance abuse and counseling support.

$58,500 Job Readiness Grant: CASA/Prince George’s County
CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, of Prince George’s County partners with the juvenile court to improve the lives of abused and neglected children living in foster care. CASA serves 35% of Prince George’s County’s foster children through a network of 150 volunteers, who spend, on average, 10-15 hours per month with each child they represent, often becoming the primary source of stability in that child’s life. Within five years, CASA hopes to serve 100% of youth in the county foster care system.

Job Readiness Grant to honor Tom Marmet
This year, Many Hands will honor Tom Marmet, the son of one of our founders, Betsy Marmet, by awarding the Job Readiness grant in his memory. In October of 2018, Tom, who was only 22 years old, tragically was shot and killed by a stray bullet while driving home from his work with So Others Might Eat’s one-year Volunteer Corps. Tom was serving as a Volunteer Employment Specialist, working one-on-one with formerly homeless clients at a SOME transitional housing site and focused on job readiness. Tom was remembered by all who loved him as a loyal friend, committed to a life of service and to making the world a better place. We cannot think of a better way to remember him than to name this year’s grant the Tom Marmet Memorial Job Readiness grant.

For more information, or if your nonprofit organization is interested in applying for a Many Hands grant, please visit our website, www.manyhandsdc.org. Many Hands will not accept letters of inquiry for 2020 grants before September, 2019.