Child advocacy service notes shortage in male mentors for foster children

By Staff Writer

In Roseville, California, Don Genasci works as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Child Advocates of Placer County. According to the Roseville Press Tribune, the organization has about 170 volunteers, but Genasci is one of very few men.

Although there are approximately 300 foster children, about half of whom are male, only 18 percent of volunteers are men, Don Kleinfelder, Child Advocates executive director, told the news source.

While the number of children in foster care has decreased over the past five years, the organization is still in need of mentors, Kleinfelder added. He told the media outlet that he currently has 25 kids who in need of an advocate.

The organization in Placer County mainly handles children in the Juvenile Dependency Court, which addresses cases of children who have been taken from their homes as a result of neglect, physical or sexual abuse and abandonment.

Genasci added that he still keeps in touch will teens that he has mentored, including one young man who currently attends the University of California at Berkeley.

In the U.S., about 463,000 kids live in foster care, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.