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6 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Erica Fischer-Kaslander
Wayne resident heads the Passaic County Court Appointed Special Advocates
WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE NODA
M
ay is National Foster Care Month, and one Wayne woman is
doing the most she can to ensure every child has a safe place
to live. After working for an adoption agency for a number
of years, Erica Fischer-Kaslander felt a need to do more for
children who were displaced from their homes. In 2007, she
helped start the Passaic County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA);
CASA is a non-profit organization where court appointed volunteers help sup-
port abused and neglected children who have been removed from their homes.
“When a child has an advocate, there’s only a 3 percent chance they will
return to the foster care system,” says Fischer-Kaslander, who serves as the
organization executive director. “That’s compared to the 16 percent chance that
they will return if they don’t have an advocate.”
SHE WEARS MANY HATS IN HER
JOB AS THE ORGANIZATION’S
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.
Fischer-Kaslander oversees general
operations and facilitates fundraising
initiatives; the organization is run on
donations and grants, without fed-
eral funding. She also supervises the
court-appointed volunteers, who go
through the organization’s training
program.
OFTEN, CHILDREN SHE ASSIST-
ED COME BACK LATER TO HELP HER.
Since many of them are in college
and don’t have time to be full-time
volunteers, they give their time by
helping at Passaic County CASA’s
fundraising efforts, or speaking
publicly of their experiences at these
events, Fischer-Kaslander says. “This
program and the volunteers make a
long impact,” she says. “These kids
live right here, in Wayne and Passaic
County... right next door.”
14
MAY 2019 WAYNE MAGAZINE
HELPING CHILDREN IN THE
FOSTER CARE SYSTEM IS VERY
PERSONAL FOR HER.
Fischer-Kaslander and her staff
continue to monitor every child’s
case from the point when they are
removed from their homes until they
find permanent homes and the court
closes their cases, a process that can
take a few weeks to many years.
For her, it’s a topic that hits close
to home: She has a younger brother
who was adopted, and her husband
has adopted siblings.
“I grew up in a family that always
had a focus on service,” she says. “I
was part of a working professional
family, and I always knew I wanted
to do something within the child
welfare field. It’s something near and
dear to our hearts.”
One of the challenges the organiza-
tion has faced over the past few years
has been the rise of opioid addiction,
which increases the number
of neglected children who enter the
foster care system because their
parents are addicts.
SHE REMEMBERS EVERY
CHILD’S CASE.
Fischer-Kaslander says that she
doesn’t recall one particular case that
made her feel that she was making a
difference; rather, she says that every
case has been special and memo-
rable in its own way. “When you
leave them in permanent homes or if
they were safely reunited [with their
caregivers], that’s a wonderful happy
ending for children,” says Fischer-
Kaslander. “You feel like we did
something great.”
Unfortunately, not every case ends
happily. For example, a young boy
with shaken baby syndrome is liv-
ing in a medical facility now, and
most likely will never be adopted.
However, CASA volunteers are there
with him at the facility, making sure
they have a presence in his life.
SHE HOPES TO KEEP EXPANDING
OUTREACH TO CHILDREN IN NEED.
Although the organization was
able to help 250 children last year,
Fischer-Kaslander doesn’t want
to stop there; she aims to increase
CASA’s number of active volunteers
to ensure that each child can get
help, and not have to stay on a
waiting list. “Right now, we have
to prioritize the worst of the worst
cases,” she says.
The organization has about 111
active volunteers who work one on one
with children in the program; in some
instances, volunteers will help siblings.
This year, Fischer-Kaslander wants to
increase the number of children in the
program by 30 percent.