A QUESTION OF BALANCE: DECISION MAKING FOR CASA/GAL VOLUNTEERS
A Question of Balance synthesizes the extensive pre-service training that all CASA/GAL volunteers receive in a short (less than 60 pages), conversational format. The guidance offered helps CASA and GAL volunteers recall and perform the critical child advocacy functions they learned about in pre-service training. They can investigate, facilitate, advocate and monitor each case with confidence, knowing that the information being presented and the recommendations being made to the court powerfully convey the best interests of the child.
A Question of Balance lays the groundwork for successful child advocacy. It contains content that volunteers need throughout the life of the case and will use in different ways. Examples include:
· preparing for goal-directed interviews
· acquiring all the necessary information
· sorting the information gathered for relevance and missing pieces
· weighing cultural considerations
· adapting information to the appropriate type of court hearing and
· constructing a well-documented, fact-based court report.
The multi-function nature of the book makes it ideally suited to the Kindle format. It’s almost like having a supervisor in your pocket. The Kindle provides not only instant accessibility but also offers features like highlighting and note-taking that can assist with several of the tasks listed above.
A Question of Balance is designed to stimulate the reader’s thinking while, at the same time, providing tools to enhance child advocacy. This book is divided into three sections.
· The narrative chapters focus on issues that volunteers often find challenging: looking beyond personal values, developing cultural competency, acquiring reliable and relevant information from the complex child welfare system and utilizing the volunteer/supervisor relationship effectively.
· The decision inventory is a series of questions intended to elicit the facts required for each type of court hearing.
· The resource section provides a link to National CASA’s large library of web-based articles on topics of interest to CASA and GAL volunteers.