‘You just have to be there’: Fathers help kids through court program

A local father of a special needs child will now help Clark County foster children with similar needs, hoping to bring some stability to children who have had little in their lives.

“My experience has been a lot of times parents just can’t handle it,” Garcia said. “The fear of dealing with an autism child makes you want to pull away.”

Brian Garcia, 46, was one of 24 new Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers who were sworn in at a ceremony Thursday at Family Court. The group will help advocate for 52 abused and neglected children.

Volunteers completed five weeks of training and will spend two to three hours a week getting to know the children before advocating and speaking for them in court and in school. Volunteers will attend every court hearing and write reports about the child’s case for judges to review.

A large majority, or 84.3 percent, of advocates are women, according to District Court spokeswoman Mary Ann Price. Four of the 24 volunteers sworn in Thursday were men.

“You’re stepping up and doing a volunteer service that really will shape the lives of the children that you come into contact with,” Family Court Judge David Gibson said at the ceremony. “Your input, your perspective it will enhance our experience as judges in how we approach these cases.”

Judge Margaret Pickard told the volunteers that a child’s attorney will tell judges what a child wants, but it’s the CASA volunteers job to say what will be in a child’s best interest.

‘You just have to be there’

Garcia’s 12-year-old son, Alex, has autism.

“My focus is going to be on the special needs kids, the autism kids, because I have a lot experience with my own boy,” Garcia said.

There are about 400 CASA volunteers, but program coordinators said there would need to be 1,000 volunteers to serve every child in the foster care system.

Garcia was born and raised in Las Vegas and runs a pool service and repair company. He is a single dad to Alex and his 13-year-old daughter, Izzy.

Garcia encouraged other parents to apply to volunteer and be a positive figure in a child’s life. He said an eighth grade theater teacher gave him the confidence to come out of his shell and make friends.

“This child may not have had that, and it doesn’t take much,” Garcia said. “You don’t have to be there and change the kids life. You just have to be there.”

Continuing to serve

Brett Schaefer, a retired Las Vegas firefighter, has two adult sons and was looking for a way to give back and stay active. He read a news article about the CASA program and saw it as a chance to continue serving the community.

He said he helped many people as a firefighter with short-term fixes where there was not time to get to know the people he was helping.

“I’m not going to be able to affect as many people, but I’m going to be able to affect a few people a lot more dramatically,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer and his wife, Jessica, have two sons. Cole is 22 and works for the Henderson Fire Department. Their youngest, Reed, is in college. Schaefer said being a dad will absolutely help him be a better volunteer.

“Having two adult children, I’ve kind of gone through each stage that they’ve gone through,” Schaefer said. “Every stage is a little different.”

For more information, call 702-455-CASA or visit casalasvegas.org.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.