Dear Source,
Five-year-old Rilya Wilson is lost. She was under the care of the state of Florida, but has been missing for 15 months. For those 15 months, no one knew she was lost. This scenario should strike all of us as outrageous, unbelievable and unacceptable. A little innocent 5-year-old lost by the very people charged with protecting her.
Rilya must be found. The state of Florida also needs to find out who was responsible for losing this child and hold them accountable.
We must prevent future tragedies of this sort. Fortunately, we know how.
In every state around the nation, and here in the Virgin Islands, volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers watch over cases like Rilya's. They help ensure that child protection agencies and the courts properly perform their responsibilities to the children. The goal is a safe, permanent home for every child.
Florida has a CASA program called the Guardian ad Litem program. Unfortunately, Florida, like the Virgin Islands, does not have enough volunteers to advocate for every child that the government is supposed to be caring for.
This could be easily remedied. Each child in government care for abuse or neglect needs an advocate who is thoroughly trained and supervised, who has only one or two children to watch over, and who will be the persistent voice assuring that no child gets lost the way Rilya did.
Ordinary people serving as volunteers can accomplish this remarkable feat for children with a commitment to 30 hours of initial training and about 10 hours of volunteer casework each month. In return, they will have the satisfaction of having made a powerful difference for a child.
It may be too late for Rilya, who did not have a volunteer advocate. We hope not.
But there are many children currently in the care of the government of the Virgin Islands because they have been abused or neglected in their homes. They need advocates to watch out for them. How much time and money would it take to provide a volunteer for each of them? The more important question is: What is the cost of inaction? What is the value of a child's life?
We are CASA volunteers. Join us and be a powerful voice in a child's life right here on St. Croix. For more information, including information about starting CASA programs on the territory's other islands, call CASA at 773-2626.
Mediha Abdul-Hakeem, Jackie S. Anderson, Jessica De Souza, John Everhart, Khadija Gordon, Shelley Jaggernauth, John B. Joseph, La-Verne P. Joseph, Bernice Kight, Reuben Nieves, Mary Roebuck, Jake Sheehan, Arnold L. Speaks Jr., Stephanie A. Steele, Scheniqua Thomas, Malinda Vigilant
St. Croix
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