From left: Bryant Powell and his mother Lori Powell.
CASA marks 20 years; volunteers support abused youths and their foster families
BY LAURA GIRRESCH
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE --
Between the ages of 2 and 10, Bryant Powell, now 14, lived with 13 different families, including blood relatives and foster and adoptive families.His current adoptive mother, Lori Powell, said he had been taken by the state from his birth parents at age 2 after they left him to supervise his 6-month-old brother in the bathtub; the baby died of burns from the hot water.
Powell said one family adopted him at the age of 9 only to give him back to the state within a year because his emotional scars from years of a variety of types of abuse at his birth home and in foster care were more than they could handle.
Powell, who adopted Bryant when he was 10, said she, too, might have given up on him if she hadn't had the support of Ted Lawrence, a volunteer from St. Clair County Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Volunteers spend time with children who are wards of the state in abuse and neglect cases, prepare condition reports for judges and advocate for children to be placed in good homes.
When Bryant first came to her family, Powell said, he would sometimes cry uncontrollably for hours. He has been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, which makes it difficult to form normal emotional attachments, though he has improved over time.
Powell, who is 43 and lives in Belleville's west end, remembers calling Lawrence during the difficult times.
"I was screaming into the phone that I'd had it, I didn't know what else to do," Powell said, adding that Lawrence would always drop by to help. He assured Powell and the judge that Powell was a good foster mother, and he got special services at school for Bryant.
"If I was upset about anything, if I was sad, he'd stop by and help me calm down," Bryant said.
St. Clair County CASA Executive Director Victoria Vasileff said CASA hopes to attract more volunteers at its 20th anniversary celebration and open house from 3 to 7 p.m. today at 110 N. High St., Suite 2, Belleville.
She said the group needs more volunteers because the number of abuse and neglect cases is growing with the increase in drug use, and children are sometimes placed on a waiting list.
Vasileff said volunteers need to be at least 21 years old and don't need previous court or social work experience. The nonprofit organization is especially in need of volunteers who are males or African-American, she said, because so many of the wards fit those descriptions.
The CASA volunteer, unlike caseworkers who come and go, is there "from the beginning to the end, to be the keeper of the big story," Powell said.
She said Bryant has improved.
"He's not perfect," said Powell, who also has two biological daughters and is married to Darin Powell. "(Bryant) has hurts in him that maybe will go away, maybe not. He is attached to our family. He loves us. He's happy."
Contact reporter Laura Girresch at lgirresch@bnd.com or 239-2507.
