TPR Hearing

This week I have had the privilege of sitting at a TPR hearing in Children's Court.  I often wondered what goes on in Children's Court that makes it different from a regular court setting.  It has been years since I have stepped inside any court room, so I was nervous.  I sat there, hearing the case and observing the room.  I couldn't imagine the participants in the case and what they were feeling.  A TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) hearing is a very serious matter.  It made me wonder, the decisions made in these rooms affect not just those in the case, but could potentially affect many other cases after them.

I know we will soon have a hearing in Children's Court for our foster child.  With my foster parent training and this experience, I can go in there with more confidence in the judicial system.  They don't see each case as just another file to look at because it is work, they see that a child or children are affected, but their families and extended families, and every one whose lives those children impact.  They make every reasonable effort to keep families together when possible and find adoptive resources when reunification is not possible.

This made me wonder what more I could learn in case I would like to become a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate).  A CASA may help many children in the foster care system feel heard.  Have you considered becoming a CASA?