Township of Washington resident Nilene Evans became a Bergen County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) after reading a newspaper story about the work nearly a decade ago — and thinking, simply, I can do that.
Evans, a retired corporate securities lawyer, said she was looking for meaningful, hands-on service after leaving full-time work.
“I could still just write checks,” she said, “but I didn’t want to write checks. I wanted to do, and be involved.”
Today, Evans serves as a volunteer Advocate with Bergen County CASA — now a colleague of the volunteer whose story first drew her in — and she is also a member of the organization’s board. She described the role as a serious commitment, one that often requires persistence, coordination, and a willingness to keep showing up.
“When I signed up, I was told you have to think of it like a part-time job,” Evans said. “It is a commitment… We’re supposed to be with the kids for as long as it takes.”
Volunteer Advocates appointed by family court judges work alongside schools, service providers and child-welfare professionals to help ensure foster children’s educational, medical and mental-health needs are addressed — and that judges have the information they need to make well-informed decisions in each case. Bergen County CASA, a Hackensack-based nonprofit, follows that model and is part of a nationwide network of more than 900 CASA affiliates operating in 49 states, the organization says. It says its advocacy is guided by the principle that children do best with their family of origin when that can be achieved safely.
For many children, a CASA Advocate is the only consistent adult presence while they are in care — particularly when placements change, Executive Director Lucy Rosen said.
Evans said that consistency matters because even when removal is necessary, the disruption itself is traumatic.
“The mere act of taking a child from a home — no matter how neglectful or how terrible the home is — is traumatic,” Evans said. “Typically, no matter how awful the parent is, the child wants to be with their parent.”
While people sometimes assume CASA work is primarily one-on-one time with a child, Evans said much of the role involves advocacy inside a complicated system: speaking with educators, physicians, therapists, caseworkers, foster parents and biological parents, then pushing for what a child needs.
“We advocate… We think about what’s going on and what does the child need,” Evans said. “We nag. We nag politely, and we work the system.”
One concrete example, she said, is education. State rules can require a child to remain enrolled in the school district from which they were removed, even when they have no meaningful ties there and the commute becomes punishing.
“There are kids who… can be on the road two hours a day,” Evans said. “And so we figure out those things.”
Evans said delays and gaps in mental-health services remain among the hardest challenges — not because professionals don’t care, but because there are not enough providers and children’s cases can shift quickly.
“There aren’t enough providers,” she said. “Everything takes longer than you planned… and if a therapist leaves, you have to start over.”
According to Bergen County CASA’s FY2025 annual report, 91 trained Advocates supported 125 children in the Bergen County foster care system between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. The organization reported that 93% of CASA recommendations were accepted by Family Court judges, volunteers donated 6,345 hours, attended 375 court hearings, and drove more than 28,000 miles. The report also said 28 children reached permanency during the fiscal year.
In a January update to volunteers, Rosen said the organization has expanded educational support through an Educational Advocacy and Literacy Initiative, training more than half of its Advocates to use literacy screeners to help secure needed services. The organization has also partnered with CogniTutor, a trauma-informed tutoring program, using grant funding to expand individualized tutoring for youth in care.
For older teens approaching adulthood, Bergen County CASA also offers an advanced program called Fostering Futures, pairing trained Advocates with youth ages 16 and older. The program focuses on life skills such as financial literacy, resume building and interview preparation, and has included paid internship opportunities for participating youth, Rosen said.
Bergen County CASA’s next Advocate training class begins Saturday, Feb. 28. Prospective volunteers are encouraged to attend an information session before applying. Details and schedules are available at bergencasa.org and bergencasa.org/information-sessions.
Evans said volunteers bring different strengths — whether they know school systems well, understand community resources, or simply connect with children — but the essential qualification is a steady commitment to a child’s well-being.
“It’s caring,” she said. “You want to make a difference in a child’s life.”
Bergen CASA’s work has surfaced in our coverage before, including a Westwood-based Eagle Scout project that assembled “Fostering Hope” care packages for foster children in Bergen County, and in reports on golf and pickleball outing fundraisers for the organization. Save the date for two fun events coming up: Casino Night at Seasons in the Township of Washington on May 6 and the Bergen CASA Golf Classic at Montammy Golf Club in Alpine on Oct. 5. Visit bergencasa.org/events.