Nonprofit that supports foster care children relocates to bigger, more centralized offices in Hunterdon County – NJ.com

An organization that seeks to provide homes for hundreds of abused and neglected children across New Jersey has found a new home for itself.

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties (CASA SHaW), established in 2005, has moved its central office from Washington Township in Warren County to Lebanon Borough in Hunterdon County, a spot more centered in its tri-county service area.

CASA ShaW is part of a statewide network of community-based, non-profit programs through which volunteers serve as advocates or mentors for foster care children and youth as they navigate their way through the New Jersey Family Court system.

Tracey Heisler, executive director of CASA SHaW, described the offices’ new location at 148 Main St., Building D1, as an improvement upon its predecessor largely because of its increased convenience for the organization’s staff members and volunteers.

“Our Warren office up in Washington was hard to get to, frankly — particularly for some of our southern Somerset County volunteers. When we would have trainings they would forego coming because it was a 45-minute drive for them,” Heisler explained. “This puts everybody within 30 minutes of the office … and it puts everybody within 20 minutes of all the court houses and the DCP&P offices, so it’s just a much more central location.”

The offices are also larger than those at the organization’s previous location, enjoying five rooms for staff offices — as opposed to the two in Washington Township — and 800 more square feet of space.

Stating that initial planning for the move began in January of this year, Heisler acknowledged that its timing “could not have not more fortuitous” in light of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were kind of jam-packed before, and now with social distancing it’s much safer for our staff because I could put two people in a room instead of four or five,” Heisler said. “So from a health and safety perspective, it was an excellent move as well.”

Despite the obstacles presented by the coronavirus pandemic, CASA SHaW has remained fully operational throughout the past several months by supplying foster care children with technology to enable them to virtually connect with their mentors, of which there are approximately 120 in the organization.

“We reached out to our donors, who provided resources for us to get Chromebooks, and laptops, and phones for kids who didn’t have access to that digital platform so that the advocates can continue to ensure that everybody was OK,” Heisler said. “They’ve been helping with homework, playing games, reading stories, all through this platform.”

“It’s been scary for these kids; they’re generally not with their biological families … and resource parents do a fantastic job, but one of the hallmarks of CASA is they have the same advocate from the time they come into care until they either go home or are adopted or age out. So there’s a long-term relationship there that can be very comforting in times of stress, like COVID-19,” she added.

The organization’s successful shift to virtual services is further illustrated by its donors’ continuous support of CASA SHaW both financially and supply-wise — which Heisler said has not wavered as a result of the global crisis.

“Our donors have been just fantastic, and have really stepped up their game in the last year or two,” Heisler said. “All of them have jumped in with both feet to say, ‘Yes, that’s something we can do, and something we can provide.’”

Gift cards to purchase food, countless numbers of school supplies, and tote bags full of toiletries, games, books, blankets, and pillows are amongst the numerous supplies that have been provided to foster care children and their families throughout pandemic.

While expressing her eagerness to have all staff and volunteers reunited within the new and improved offices, Heisler acknowledged that the continuance of the pandemic across the state requires the majority of those involved with the organization to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future.

“With the new office opening, we are also acutely aware of the concerns about the virus spreading,” Heisler explained. “So most people are continuing to work off-site, and if they want to come into the office they are emailing their peers and coordinating to make sure that there’s not more than two or three of them there at the same time.”

Nonetheless, even if the extent to which the new offices can be used currently remains limited, the organization’s commitment to improving the lives of New Jersey children removed from homes of abuse or neglect will remain anything but.

“Coming from a middle class lens of we expect to kids to end up with an ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ kind of family life — that’s not realistic. But what is realistic is to see that you helped a kid graduate high school. You helped a kid get a driver’s license, or get therapy to deal with the trauma,” Heisler said. “It’s all really just basic things that most of us take for granted, but many of our kids desperately need.”

“And the advocates, because they stay with them from when they first come into care until they go home, intimately know the history and the needs of these children.”

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Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.