Voices for Children Honors Riverside Resident Mariana Robles as 2024 CASA Volunteer of the Year During Riverside County CASA Graduation

Voices for Children, which provides youth in foster care with volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), today announced that the Voices for Children Riverside County 2024 CASA of the Year is Riverside resident Mariana Robles. She was recognized at the organization’s Riverside County CASA graduation event on December 10 at the Elks Lodge in Riverside.

Founded in 1980, Voices for Children transforms the lives of children in foster care by providing them CASAs. These volunteers – trained and supported by Voices for Children – advocate for youth in court, school, medical settings, and more to ensure their needs are met. Over time, a CASA often becomes the most consistent adult in the life of a child in foster care.

Each year, the organization honors a special volunteer who has gone above and beyond in advocating for youth living in foster care. Mariana was chosen for her fearless advocacy for her youth, and her willingness to go above and beyond for each family she serves.

Mariana Robles has been a CASA volunteer in Riverside County for nearly four years. In that time, she has served ten children in five cases, often advocating for sibling groups. Because she is bilingual in English and Spanish, Mariana has helped multiple families reunite by supporting Spanish-speaking parents. Born and raised in Mexico City, Mariana moved to the U.S. for graduate school with her husband. She taught in Riverside County schools for 27 years after earning her degree. After she retired, she wanted to continue to serve her community but didn’t know where her talents would be of best use. One day, as she was driving to the art studio where she makes glass mosaics, she heard an NPR story on the radio about Voices for Children and the CASA program. She was inspired–and decided then and there that she would volunteer to be a CASA.

Four years later, Mariana is being recognized for the exceptional work she has done on behalf of the children for whom she has advocated. Mariana’s nomination for this honor highlighted many stories of her dedication to providing the best possible outcome for the youth she served:

• Mariana helped one set of three siblings reunite with their mother by providing extensive assistance and translation help for the mother, who only spoke Spanish. She helped the mother with school enrollment and forms for one child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP), and even attended parent-teacher conferences with her.
• In another case, Mariana advocated fiercely for a school-aged boy in foster care to be placed with a relative. The connection she built with the boy by attending his sports game and spending time with him allowed her to see the loving bond between him and this relative helped her build her case that this legal guardianship would be the best option for the boy’s welfare. It was a successful placement, and the boy still lives with this relative.
• When one of her case children wanted to take a baking class, Mariana advocated for this in court and collaborated with the boy’s social worker to find one for him to participate in that was close to home.
• Mariana successfully advocated to get one of her case children into preschool because she knew that the boy desperately needed enrichment and to be around other children his age.
• One of her more recent cases is a medically fragile one-year-old boy who will require constant medical attention for the foreseeable future after a very rough start in life. Mariana ensures that nothing falls through the cracks when coordinating his care.

Mariana also serves as a member of VFC’s Legislative Action Team, regularly working explore how CASA volunteers can serve as ambassadors for the CASA model.

“Mariana deserves to be honored for her unwavering support of our organization and the children she has served as a CASA,” said Voices for Children’s President & CEO Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS. “She is a CASA that not only advocates for children, but also the parents too, and has positively impacted the lives of so many families in her community through her work. Her consistency, positivity, and willingness to do whatever it takes to secure what is best for children make her a stellar example of a CASA. We are so grateful that Mariana is part of our team, and we warmly congratulate her on being named CASA of the Year for 2024.”

The advocacy of CASA volunteers is vital to promoting the health and safety of children and youth in foster care. Children in foster care have often experienced abuse and neglect. Foster care placement compounds their already challenging circumstances with court hearings, social workers, attorneys, new homes, and new schools.

A CASA like Mariana can, over time, become a hopeful presence in a child’s life and the person who the child knows is always there to listen. Mariana has worked through many challenges in her cases, all with the utmost perseverance. Her goal for all her case children has been to create an individualized path to success.

“Receiving this award is a huge honor,” said Mariana. “I have met such wonderful people and learned more than I ever thought possible through my involvement with Voices for Children, and I’m still humbled that they chose me as CASA of the Year. Being a CASA gives me a sense of purpose because it is such important work–these kids don’t deserve what happens to them, and if we can help them, we should. I would like to thank Voices for Children for being a focused, well-organized group that is not only doing good work, but doing it well.”

45 new CASA volunteers were sworn in at the graduation ceremony where Mariana was honored as the CASA of the Year.

There are currently 100 youths in Riverside County foster care on Voices for Children’s waitlist for a CASA volunteer. To learn more about the valuable work of CASA volunteers and take action to make a difference, please visit speakupnow.org.