Fort Worth couple volunteer with Tarrant County’s CASA program
JAMES RUSSELL | Contributing Writer
james.journo@gmail.com
Here’s Ryan and Michael Kite-Hedges’ typical week: Go to work, walk their dogs, take care of the house and advocate for neglected and abused children.
The Fort Worth couple are volunteer advocates with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Tarrant County, a not-for-profit focused on advocating for children in foster care.
The job is as easy as it sounds — as in, not easy at all.
Ryan and Michael are among the 600 advocates who go through hours and hours of intense training to navigate a troubling and dysfunctional system. The system has been stuck in federal courts for the past13 years, with plaintiffs representing children arguing it is so dysfunctional that it violates the children’s constitutional rights.
CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to serve as navigators for children in custody of the state. They do everything, from providing companionship to the children to nudging the various players across government and private organizations to keep doing their jobs on behalf of the child.
“The child is one piece of it. Think of it as part detective work and part maintaining consistency,” Michael said.
It’s a lot of work in Tarrant County, which has the third-highest number of abused or neglected children in the state. In fact, Tarrant County has the highest per capita child abuse rate of all urban areas in the state.
When it comes to communicating with the child, Ryan said, “you have to ask, ‘Are you okay? Are you talking to your parents?’ You maintain the relationship so they can trust you.’”
Volunteers keep everyone accountable, too.
The volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds and in a variety of ages. Volunteers can be as young as their 20s and as old as their 80s.
Ryan is a marketing executive. Michael is in construction management. (The couple, while not in their 20s, are as youthful as 20-year-olds.)
Yet what all volunteers share is a doggedness. They take the role seriously and are committed for the long term, said Jennie Parker, a child advocate at CASA who works with volunteers. Each paid staff member is assigned 25 volunteers; 499 volunteers were assigned cases in 2023.
“Michael and Ryan are among my favorite volunteers and humans,” Parker added.
She’s been with the agency for six years after having previously worked for Child Protective Services and also as a police officer. She’s seen the system change, which makes her oversight role more critical.
These days, Parker said, she’s seeing more babies taken into state custody and laws making removal of younger children much harder.
Given all the changes, and given that these trained advocates are also volunteers, Parker said she’s “hands on as much they need me.”
She and the CASA staff are also steadfast LGBTQ allies: “When you’re with us you know you’ll be supported,” she said.
Fortunately, nothing horrible has happened with volunteers, Parker said. The horrible stuff has “mainly been with foster parents,” she added.
“In training they say, ‘don’t worry, the kids will love you,’” Michael said. “It’s true.”
The couple are in the process of adopting a child. If they’re anything as parents like they are as advocates, their future child will love them, too.