Child Focus' Evolution: Expanding Support for New Jersey's Children

In this heartfelt episode of Greetings From the Garden State, host Mike Ham sits down with Erica Fischer-Kaslander, Executive Director of Child Focus, a nonprofit organization in Wayne, NJ, dedicated to advocating for foster youth. From its humble beginnings to becoming a vital resource for children and families across Passaic, Union, Hudson, and Essex counties, Erica shares the inspiring journey of Child Focus.

We dive into the three core programs—CASA, New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team, and the Open Door Store—and explore how each initiative transforms lives by fostering normalcy, advocacy, and empowerment. Erica also shares personal stories of resilience, including the full-circle moment when a former CASA child joined the organization as a staff member.

Learn how Child Focus is making a difference, especially during the holiday season, through initiatives like the Winter Coat Drive and holiday gift wish list. Erica explains how you can get involved—whether by volunteering, donating, or simply spreading the word.

What You'll Learn:

• The mission and history of Child Focus
• How CASA volunteers advocate for foster youth in Passaic and Union counties
• The innovative New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team and its collaborative approach
• The Open Door Store: providing foster youth with essential and confidence-boosting items
• Ways to support foster youth this holiday season and year-round

Links and Resources:

• Child Focus NJ Website – Learn more, volunteer, or donate.
• Greetings From the Garden State Podcast – Explore past episodes.
• Support the Winter Coat Drive and Holiday Gift Campaign by visiting Child Focus or contacting their team.

Music: "Ride" by Jackson Pines
jacksonpines.com

Thank you to our sponsors:
New Jersey Lottery: njlottery.com

Meghan Carroll Realtor: MCSellsbytheSea.com

Albert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.com

Mayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendar

Contact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.com

Transcript

Mike Ham [0:20 - 0:31]: All right, what's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Greetings for the Guards Day, powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm Mike Ham. We are here in Wayne, New Jersey, today at Child Focus with executive director Erica Fisher Castlander. Erica, welcome to the show. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [0:31 - 0:32]: Thank you. Thanks for having me. 

Mike Ham [0:32 - 0:43]: Absolutely. So we walked in. This must be like, first off, we're recording on, like, the first day of rain in, like, two months, so I feel like that's, like, a good sign. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [0:43 - 0:46]: It might be more than two months, honestly. Yeah, I'll take it for good luck. 

Mike Ham [0:46 - 1:11]: Yeah, yeah, I think it's good luck. But so coming up here, getting here, and then kind of like walking in the front door, there's just like. That seemed like an energy because, like, I've been to a lot of places, I've seen a lot of places and, you know, done a lot of episodes and all that kind of stuff, but, like, there's a bunch of people, like, at a table doing stuff and like the T shirts and, you know, like all this stuff. It just, like, seemed, like, really cool and that. You have something interesting here, right? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [1:11 - 2:08]: Yeah. Thank you. It's. I mean, I think there's an energy because I love being here, and when you love your job, you know something's right. Sure. But our staff are all here because they're passionate about what we do. You know, they're not here for a paycheck, although we all need a paycheck at the end of the day. Totally. That's not what's keeping them here. It's, you know, the mission of the organization advocating for abused and neglected children and knowing that we are in a place to help kids who often have no one else there. So you mentioned the table full of people when you walked in. That's one of the things that I think is a huge perk. We're all really supportive and friendly with each other and our staff, not because they are told to, but because they want to get together to grab lunch and we'll hang out over 3 o'clock coffee while they're working. But, you know, that's just the kind of supportive environment, you know, that we've created. And I think that makes us the organization that we are. 

Mike Ham [2:08 - 2:19]: Okay. Yeah, totally. And can we just. For the people that don't know, can we give like 30,000 foot view? What Child Focus is who you. I mean, you mentioned it, but who you serve and all that. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [2:19 - 3:43]: Absolutely. So we're a nonprofit organization. We were founded in 2007. Originally our name was Passaic. County court appointed special advocates, or casa. And there are CASA programs throughout the country and throughout New Jersey. And for about 15 years, 16 years, we only served children in Passaic county, just with that one program, the CASA program, and an opportunity to serve the same population of children. So all children who are under the jurisdiction of the family court because they have been victims of abuse or neglect. An opportunity came during the pandemic actually in 2020 for us to expand and open a different program that was still serving the same children, same population of kids, just serving them in a different way. That's the Safe Babies Court Team program. And we've been running that since 2000. So at that point when we were, our name was Passaic county casa, but we were doing two different things, one of which was not the traditional CASA model like you'll see across the rest of the state and in other states. Our board and our leadership team really decided we needed to consider what was the long term vision of the organization. And there is a long term vision in terms of being able to serve all of the children in foster care in our geographic region, but also serve them in as much of a holistic way as possible, not just in one quadrant of their life. 

Mike Ham [3:43 - 3:44]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [3:44 - 3:46]: And that's what led us to change the organization's name. 

Mike Ham [3:46 - 3:47]: And that was. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [3:47 - 3:49]: So that was in April of this year. 

Mike Ham [3:49 - 3:50]: Okay. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [3:50 - 3:57]: So it's very new, but we officially became Child Focus Incorporated in April of 2024. 

Mike Ham [3:57 - 3:58]: Awesome. Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [3:58 - 3:59]: It's 2024 this year. 

Mike Ham [3:59 - 4:05]: Yeah, I'm pretty sure. And you came on as executive director in 2007, correct? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [4:05 - 4:25]: Yeah, I was hired by the original board, the first board that was created in end of 2006, beginning of 2007. And I started July of 2007. I always joke that, you know, it was me and a pencil to our name. We didn't, you know, as an organization, we didn't own a laptop or a desk. We didn't have office space. 

Mike Ham [4:25 - 4:25]: We had. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [4:25 - 4:32]: We had nothing. You know, I was handed a brochure from our family court judge at the time and said, like, this is what we really want to create. Go for it. 

Mike Ham [4:32 - 4:33]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [4:34 - 4:51]: If you told me 17, 18 years later we'd be serving two counties with one program and three counties with a different program, and 100% of our kids in Passaic county actually get access to an advocate now, which when we started in Passaic county, none of them did. 

Mike Ham [4:51 - 4:51]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [4:51 - 4:59]: So it's really just been a crazy whirlwind when you think about it. Although it's been a long time in one way, it's been really quick in another way. 

Mike Ham [4:59 - 5:12]: Sure. So for you personally, when you said you got handed a brochure, kind of like, why, what were you doing before this that led you, like put you in that moment to get handed that brochure and start here. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [5:12 - 5:16]: I got the brochure after I was hired, actually got hired. 

Mike Ham [5:16 - 5:17]: Like now. What do we do? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [5:17 - 6:36]: Yeah, exactly. But no, I mean academically. I have a background of my master's degree in child advocacy from Montclair State University. And I always thought I was going to law school, had planned on going to law school, thought I was going to work and represent children in that way. And I had a couple of experiences personally that led me to change my mind and decide to go for my master's instead of a law degree because I really wanted to be more hands on. I wanted to really work more directly with children, with families. And I was working after. While I was in my graduate degree, I had the opportunity to work actually for a private adoption agency. So I was working with adoptive families while they were going through the application at home study process. But I was also working with birth mothers who were choosing voluntarily to place their infant for adoption. You know, domestic infant adoption, which is not common, you know, in our area, you know, societally as it was, you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago. But just that small snippet of experience really just made me super passionate about child welfare as a field. I have multiple members of my family who were in foster care, were adopted from foster care. My youngest brother was adopted internationally. So to me, it's just personal. 

Mike Ham [6:36 - 6:36]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [6:36 - 6:46]: You know, like this just brings every aspect of my home life and my work life and my academic life together and, you know, just allowed me to really love what I do. 

Mike Ham [6:46 - 6:56]: Yeah. I mean, what can we just real quick, because I don't know if people can are going to be able to see it on camera, but there's like a lot of toys and stuff in here. Like, what room are we in? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [6:56 - 6:58]: We call this our family room. 

Mike Ham [6:58 - 6:58]: Okay. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [6:58 - 7:54]: So we use this for anytime we have family. You know, they're called family team meetings. So it's a meeting with parents and resource foster parents and all the professionals that get together. Often they're held on zoom just because of how far away people are. But whenever we can do them in person, this room is available for those purposes. It's also available for visitations when it's necessary. You know, when children are in foster care, they're entitled legally to have visitation with Their biological parents. Sometimes that needs to be supervised, sometimes it's not. And whenever possible it's. We try. The court tries to make sure that it's in a more as natural of an environment as is practical for that family. So whether that means meeting at a park or, you know, in the community at a playground, or maybe it's going out for dinner, but sometimes that's not possible. And you need a more formal, you know, say office based setting for that. And then this room is used for those visitations. 

Mike Ham [7:54 - 7:59]: Yeah, yeah. Because that mean, like there's an Xbox over there. That's pretty cool. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [7:59 - 8:07]: Yeah. We try to make sure we have. If we know a specific age group of child is coming in or children are coming in, we'll kind of equip the room a little differently. 

Mike Ham [8:07 - 8:08]: Sure. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [8:08 - 8:13]: But the basics, there's a little bit of everything. There's miniature chairs and. 

Mike Ham [8:13 - 8:13]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [8:13 - 8:15]: Xbox for our older kids and changing. 

Mike Ham [8:15 - 8:46]: Pad we almost set up at the table. But then I realized if I sat in one of those chairs, I may never get out. I'll be here forever. Just. Mike, just leave them there. So I. One thing that strikes me to. I mean, as someone who. I think the longest time I had a job was about like six years to be in one place and doing this thing for. Since 2007, obviously, like, there must have been moments or have been moments and stuff over time where like, you knew that you made the right decision, right? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [8:46 - 8:48]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Mike Ham [8:49 - 8:50]: Can we maybe. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [8:50 - 8:51]: Like, I'm crazy. 

Mike Ham [8:51 - 9:29]: Sure. You know, but I think like, you know, especially what you're describing when you took over, that you basically just had like a pencil and that was it, you know, and then like now pulling up here, there's like a full office here. Like, it's like a real, real life office. A real. Yeah. If you could touch it, you could sit in it, all kinds of stuff. Like, to me, that's amazing. And I think if. If it was something that, you know, especially with a mission like this with, you know, dealing with kids and all that kind of stuff, to me that shows. Like, there's like a lot of good that's happening here, you know. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [9:29 - 9:31]: Yeah. Obviously I'm biased, but I think so. 

Mike Ham [9:31 - 9:32]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [9:32 - 10:56]: Yeah. It's, you know, the organization didn't exist before I was hired as the first executive director. I was the first employee of any kind. The concept existed. And, you know, CASA as a model had existed across the country in various different states, you know, really since the late 70s, but it had never been here in Passaic County. I was Born and raised in Passaic county my whole life. I still live in Passaic County. I'm raising my children here. So, you know, besides my personal connection to adoption and foster care, I also am just passionate about my community. I've been a member of the Rotary Club of Patterson for the last 20 years, give or take, when I age myself. And I think just making sure that what is happening to the child or children who are sitting in class next to my sons is as important as it is making sure that my own children, you know, have access to everything. And that has happened. I mean, we serve, you know, between three and 400 children in foster care in Passaic county every year. Obviously that number has grown over the years as our organization grew. And I live here, so I have been online in shoprite and had a family that we're working with in line ahead of me. You know, my son is in middle school and we've had a, you know, a child who's recipient of our services who was also in the same middle school. And obviously there's very strict confidentiality and boundaries that nobody knows that, but I know it in my head. 

Mike Ham [10:56 - 10:57]: Yeah, yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [10:57 - 11:15]: And that means a lot. That to me is a positive, is. It is a huge positive because I know that the impact I'm making is impacting the entire community, the entire world. Not just for my son, but for everybody else's children who are walking parallel in society with all of these kids. 

Mike Ham [11:15 - 11:18]: Right. And just trying to live a normal life. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [11:18 - 11:39]: Exactly. And that's all we want. You know, we, the we. Normalcy is a word that I feel like can be thrown around casually. But really, normalcy is driving all of us day to day in this office. Just because a child's in foster care, just because they're involved with the family court system should not by any means define their experience in childhood. 

Mike Ham [11:39 - 11:40]: Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [11:40 - 12:04]: It's very easy for it to define it, but that's really our biggest focus, is to advocate for all the long term things, you know, in terms of, with their permanency, where they live and, you know, are they adopted, do they go back home? Obviously are always the forefront, but the day to day is making sure that their experience is as, you know, quote, unquote, normal as possible, whatever normal is. I don't, I don't think I know what normal is, but I don't think. 

Mike Ham [12:04 - 12:07]: Any of us really do. But just like, you know, I mean. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:07 - 12:08]: They have access to the same things we. 

Mike Ham [12:08 - 12:09]: Exactly. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:09 - 12:12]: We want access to if we were in their, their position. 

Mike Ham [12:12 - 12:19]: Totally. Okay. I would like to, if we can kind of like dig a little deeper on the three different programs, essentially. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:19 - 12:20]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [12:20 - 12:28]: That way people know kind of like what the differences are between the three. So I think, because we talked about it a bunch already, let's dig a little bit deeper into casa. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:28 - 12:29]: I say casa. 

Mike Ham [12:29 - 12:29]: Casa. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:29 - 12:30]: I don't know which one's right, though. 

Mike Ham [12:31 - 12:34]: Well, you. If you say casa, I'm pretty sure that it's right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:35 - 12:37]: Are you from New Jersey or New York, so. 

Mike Ham [12:37 - 12:38]: Well, I'm from Jersey. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:38 - 12:42]: Okay. If you're from New York, they might say casa. 

Mike Ham [12:42 - 12:47]: That's true. Yeah. Well, my group, my. My parents, my mom at least, is from New York. Whatever. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [12:47 - 12:48]: We won't hold it against her. 

Mike Ham [12:48 - 13:02]: Yeah, I know. Well, other things, but. Okay. CASA of Passaic and Union counties. Let's start there because that's kind of how this whole thing really got started. Yes. So let's dig a little deeper and talk about the people involved in that. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [13:02 - 14:18]: Sure. So we say CASA of Passaic and Union counties is our flagship program. It is our largest of the three programs. It's our oldest of the three programs. And it really is the core and the heart of our mission is advocating for children who are in the foster care system. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. And it is a program. It's a, you know, a position within the court system. It operates what we call as a friend of the court model. So we are independent nonprofit organization, but we operate in partnership with our family courts. And when a child enters foster care, according to state statute in New Jersey and the court rule, they're entitled to someone to. An advocate to advocate for their best interests. They get an attorney assigned to them that is appointed by the state as a state employee who represents their best, their. I'm sorry, represents their wishes. You know, the same as if you or I go out and hire an attorney, they're going to go to court and say, my client wants. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, that's what the state law guardian would say on behalf of any of our kids. They're kids. You know, we all were kids once we. Some of us have kids. And you know that kids don't always necessarily say what is in their best interest. 

Mike Ham [14:18 - 14:19]: Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [14:19 - 14:25]: You know, I mean, my son would ask for ice cream three meals a day if I let him. That's not in his best interest, but it's what he wants. 

Mike Ham [14:25 - 14:25]: Sure. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [14:25 - 14:40]: You know, so that's really the difference in the role between what our organization and our advocates play compared to, you know, a lot of the other Parties that are involved. We are truly the only person that's there representing the child's best interest as their sole focus. And they're all volunteers. 

Mike Ham [14:40 - 14:40]: Okay. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [14:40 - 15:14]: Which I think is the other critical piece of understanding why this program works. You know, it's truly, truly grassroots. So it's people from the community representing children from the community, ideally from, you know, the same community. We try to recruit volunteers and match volunteers to represent children, you know, that have similar shared backgrounds, you know, that have shared language, shared cultural backgrounds. So we're always trying to recruit, you know, people from really diverse populations, diverse communities, because our children come from very, very diverse backgrounds, you know, across the board. 

Mike Ham [15:14 - 15:28]: Yeah. Which is a very unique thing, I think, also, particularly like in this area, but Jersey as a whole, but definitely like in Passaic and Union counties. I mean, it's, you know, it's probably like one of the most of two of the most diverse counties in the state. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [15:28 - 15:30]: I don't know the data, but I would say we should be. If we're not. 

Mike Ham [15:30 - 15:35]: Yeah. I mean, I'm trying to think like. I mean, I guess maybe like Hudson county too, as well, but like. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [15:35 - 15:37]: Yeah. And Essex. Probably Essex. 

Mike Ham [15:37 - 15:37]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [15:38 - 15:38]: The whole northern. 

Mike Ham [15:38 - 15:40]: Yeah. This whole little corridor right here is. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [15:40 - 16:07]: Yeah, yeah. About 50% of our families that we work with each year are Spanish speaking. Okay. Not necessarily exclusively. A lot of them are bilingual. But for that reason, we do always, you know, put a heavy focus on recruiting volunteers who are bilingual Spanish speakers. Because we want people to be able to, especially in a time like this that's, you know, I would argue, probably the most traumatic time of their life if they're in foster care or from a parent's perspective, if their child's in foster care. 

Mike Ham [16:07 - 16:08]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [16:09 - 16:24]: You know, language is hard enough on a day to day basis, but to be able to speak to somebody in your native language when you're in such a challenging emotional situation is just one tiny little minor thing that will hopefully make it a little bit easier and make the advocacy more effective. 

Mike Ham [16:24 - 16:29]: Like back to that normal thing that we're talking about, the comfortableness, the normalcy, like kind of just like a routine type thing. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [16:29 - 16:42]: Exactly. You know, and if you're upset and you want to talk about something really sensitive, you naturally want to, you know, talk about it in the way you're most comfortable, which, if you're more fluent in one language over another, you know, would typically go to the one you're more fluent in. 

Mike Ham [16:42 - 16:42]: Totally. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [16:42 - 16:46]: Yeah. So Spanish speakers of New Jersey, we need you. 

Mike Ham [16:46 - 17:08]: We'll get to volunteer stuff too, in a little bit. So then you were. When you were giving me kind of the history of child focus and kind of where we are now and New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team. What is that? When did that start? And then what was the, I guess, impetus behind that? Like, kind of adding that as a piece to the whole puzzle of child focus. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [17:08 - 17:43]: Sure. So New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team operates on, again, a national model of infant toddler court programs, which exists throughout the country in different states. They're all called something slightly different, but it is an evidence based model. We know it works because it's been studied in peer reviewed journals, but it's never been implemented in New Jersey until we were invited actually to apply for a grant to fund a pilot project in 2020. I'll never forget coming back to the. Well, we weren't physically coming back to the office, but, you know, talking to staff on Zoom. 

Mike Ham [17:43 - 17:44]: Going back to work. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [17:44 - 18:02]: Yeah. Going back to my Zoom room. Yeah. It was July of 2020 when we received, you know, this invitation to apply for funding. And my program director and I were talking about it and she was like, are you crazy? Who launches a new program at the height of a pandemic? Sure. And I was like, we do. And I'm really glad that we did because it's been. 

Mike Ham [18:02 - 18:04]: There's no extra noise out there at that time. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [18:04 - 22:28]: No, exactly. I mean, we kept our heads down and, you know, it was a great time actually do something new. We definitely had a lot of naysayers at the beginning and people who kind of thought we were crazy, but because everybody really was in this odd place in life, I think a lot of people were willing to try something new that they may not have normally been as open to, because it is a totally different approach to child welfare. So the program is strictly for children who are infants and toddlers under the age of 36 months and their families when they enter foster care. So it's still, like I said, the same population of children in foster care. It's just a narrower age range and it's a different program. So children who are appointed a CASA that is court ordered, the advocate is court ordered, court appointed to their case. It's not a voluntary. The child or the parent doesn't get to choose necessarily. If they want one or don't want one, the judge is the one who gets to choose that. In contrast, the Safe Babies core team is a voluntary program. So it is up to the biological parent to decide whether they want to participate or not. And if they do, then they sign consent to participate. And then the case becomes a Safe Babies court team case. And it really just changes the course of how that family's interaction is with the child welfare system. Rather than be the traditional, I say, adversarial approach that court, anything in court is adversarial because that's what court is. This really kind of takes it out of that lens and puts it in a very collaborative, early, partnership minded approach. And rather than the case go to court every three to four months, they are in Safe Babies. They are seen before the judge every month, every 30 days generally. And in addition, the entire team, which is unheard of in child welfare, typically including attorneys. So the attorneys, all of the service providers who are working with the family. So it could be mental health counselors, substance abuse treatment providers, the biological parent themselves, the child welfare caseworker from dcpnp, our staff, who's the employee of Safe Babies, they're the Safe Babies coordinator. Obviously the parents and the foster parents who are taking care of the child or relative, if the child is possibly with a relative, all of them are consider the team altogether surrounding this child. And they meet monthly. And like I said, this room is used sometimes for those family team meetings when they're in person. Unfortunately, because of the world we're in right now, or fortunately, there's pros and cons. A lot of those meetings are on zoom, but it makes it accessible so everybody really can be together. And even if somebody's an hour away, they can still make it. Or if they're working, they can just take a break and step out over lunchtime and still join the conversation. So that collaborative nature of getting everybody together as a team once a month and going to court once a month is really what the change of mentality was, because it's really intensive. I mean, it's a really intensive commitment for the parent and for all the professionals involved. So I am personally eternally grateful for a couple of key professionals. You know, one of the supervisors from our Office of Parental Representation, several of our judges, supervisors from the deputy attorney general's office, who believed in this program, you know, four years ago when we launched it and said, yeah, we need this. This really makes sense. This is best practice. Let's try it. Because they easily could have said, no, we don't have time, because it is a lot of time. But we've seen so much success that that intensity pays off in the end with more successful outcomes, quicker resolutions to cases that kids are either reunified faster or that if they aren't able to be reunified, that their adoption and their guardianships are completed, you know, in a quicker manner. Yeah. And they get services, you know, something that typically would have been a discussion in court. You know, this child needs an evaluation for, you know, some type of special education or developmental evaluation. You might not, you know, have a follow up conversation until you go back to court three months later, right here, that same group of people are together not only once a month, but twice a month. And things can really be. The red tape can be, you know, cut through. Things can be troubleshooted a lot faster. 

Mike Ham [22:28 - 22:29]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [22:29 - 22:32]: Than they are in a. I'll say. A traditional practice. 

Mike Ham [22:32 - 23:16]: Sure. The Mayo Performing Arts center is the heart of arts and Entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. Mpact presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education program. To see Impact's upcoming schedule of world class concerts, stand up comedy, family shows and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. Looking to buy, sell or rent in Monmouth or Ocean counties, Megan Carroll of Re Max Elite brings local expertise and personalized service. Megan will make your real estate process smooth and stress free bringing Southern hospitality to the Jersey shore. Call Megan today at 732-508-7402 or visit her website at mcsellsbythesea.com okay, I have a question. Kind of like this is a little bit off, kind of what we're talking about right now. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [23:16 - 23:17]: I went way down into weeds. 

Mike Ham [23:17 - 23:57]: No, no, listen, I love it because it's stuff that I could talk about it all day. This is why I like doing this show because I learned about things that I didn't even. I mean, I knew stuff like this, this existed. I'm not blind to that. But like to really know what goes into stuff like that, it's just like, I don't, I don't know, does like we talked earlier about like the great things that you're doing and we're talking about these things and obviously like helping kids and all that. Like, it's got to be like tough sometimes too, I would imagine. Right. Like getting involved in these type situations. Yeah, for sure. And I feel like, would the balance be knowing that, like you are doing a lot of really good things and it kind of like supersedes that and you have to like keep telling yourself that all the time. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [23:57 - 24:30]: I think, I think everybody finds their own balance. Yeah. You know, at this point in my life, I've seen the, I've seen the longevity over things. So yeah, I can look at the big Picture and say, okay, yeah, this was terrible. You know, mom left rehab today, and she was so close to being reunited. You know, and that's frustrating, beyond frustrating. But when you can see it from a big picture, you learn that, you know, relapse is just part of the process of recovery. Unfortunately, for when we're talking about substance abuse specifically. 

Mike Ham [24:30 - 24:30]: Sure. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [24:31 - 24:53]: And just because she left the program today doesn't mean that she's permanently left the program. And hopefully we can reengage her and she'll get, you know, involved again. But, you know, we are a child advocacy organization. Obviously, supporting Parents is a huge piece of child advocacy, but at the heart of the day, I always look at what is the long term for these kids. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but, you know, at this point, we. 

Mike Ham [24:53 - 24:55]: Can cut it if you decide that you don't want to say it. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [24:56 - 25:00]: You know, I. Well, I've been here long enough that I've been able to see kids who were kids. 

Mike Ham [25:00 - 25:05]: Well, that's what I was going to say, too, like, from 2007 to now. That's 17 years. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [25:05 - 25:05]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [25:05 - 25:13]: And I was going to ask, like, what is, like, the timetable basically, of having a kid kind of as part of your help? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [25:13 - 25:18]: That's. I think that's what keeps me here. Yeah. Really. Because, you know, obviously not every story is a success story. 

Mike Ham [25:19 - 25:19]: Sure. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [25:19 - 28:14]: We're dealing with the most challenging, challenging challenges in society. I'm at a loss for words. You know, substance abuse and mental illness and physical abuse and sexual abuse. And, I mean, these are not problems that are solved and people walk away from without trauma. You know, you. It just is. It's trauma. It's more about learning how to work with it and, you know, move on past it to a point. But 17 years, as you said, I've been able to see a lot of our kids succeed in life. Yes. I've absolutely also seen kids who've aged at week. So we serve children up to age 21, so they're still able to get support from the child welfare system between 18 and 21, as long as they are in school or working. So some of our kids I knew from the time they were toddlers till the time they were 21. And just the same as you see your own kids, you know, seeing them grow and develop and graduate from school is, you know, hugely rewarding. I think the most. The most rewarding thing in my entire career actually just happened within the last two weeks, three weeks. We have a young man who was a casa child. He's way taller than me right now. So I can't call him a CASA child anymore. But he aged out of the system at age 21. He had been in foster care, you know, for several years through high school. And you know, and I knew him, you know, worked with him, his direct advocate, you know, worked, you know, with him the most. But, you know, I still had built a relationship with him years ago. And we kind of stayed in touch. Email here and there, you know, a Facebook message once in a while. And about a year ago he reached out and was looking just for some contact information. And he was graduating from Columbia University. Wow. He was, you know, 31 years old, had gone back to school, you know, as an older student. And I almost thought he was, you know, joking when he said it. And I've said this to his face, so it's like, you know, really, Columbia, that's where you ended up. Yeah. Impressed. Beyond impressed. And, you know, we've stayed in touch since then. He graduated in May of this year, top of his class. And he came on staff here as an advocate supervisor a couple weeks ago. So that is the first time that I'm aware of in any CASA program, at least in our region or area, that a child who formerly was a beneficiary of the program, you know, eventually came on staff. And to me that has been, you know, he's not to, you know, look forward so many years because we'll see, you know, how he thinks, the experiences. But to me that's just been the most rewarding to really, really come full circle and see, you know, be able to see how he's now going to be supporting children who, you know, were exactly where he was, you know. 

Mike Ham [28:14 - 28:14]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [28:14 - 28:15]: 15 years ago. 

Mike Ham [28:15 - 28:40]: Yeah. That's amazing. And I really, I mean, I think it definitely does, especially for like when we talked earlier, we've like almost kind of the theme of this is like the normalcy type of thing, but to see someone that's like you and. Or like, you know, talks like whatever or comes from like a similar, like nose knows what it is. Like you couldn't do a job, but unless you've like been in it, you know, like you don't necessarily. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [28:40 - 28:41]: Our staff different. 

Mike Ham [28:41 - 28:41]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [28:41 - 29:07]: You know, you said when you walk in, you saw everybody together. You know, when we. It's not a data point. We really like advertise, but when we look at our staff and you know, do some data, we're very data driven program. But that's a different workshop. 80% of our staff, myself included, have what we call lived experiences or personal connections to either the child welfare system, substance abuse or mental health systems. 

Mike Ham [29:07 - 29:08]: Okay. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [29:08 - 30:13]: And a lot of it is themselves. You know, we have. Besides the young man I just talked about, we have two other staff who were in foster care. They didn't have CASA volunteers at the time, so they're a little bit different category, but they were in foster care when they were children, so they have that very specific experience. We have several staff who have had siblings or their own children struggle with substance abuse and addiction issues. And they've been very involved in that from a personal perspective. And the same with several staff who've had their own immediate family members deal with pretty severe mental illness. And I think you can't. There's no amount of schooling that can give you that kind of experience. You know, when you learn to work the system because you're a participant in the system, you come at this type of professional work from a whole different angle. Yeah, I know I do. And that has driven me to bring more staff on or as you know, as much as possible to bring staff on who have that same lens. And I think that gives our quality. It just boosts up, you know, the quality and type of support you can give people in a way that, you know, no degree or license ever could. 

Mike Ham [30:14 - 30:17]: 100%. Yeah. The real world. Street smarts. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [30:17 - 30:17]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [30:17 - 30:22]: Street smarts. All about street smarts. Okay, last program, Open Door Store. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [30:22 - 33:01]: Open Door Store is the fun program. I say, all right, the fun program. No, they're all fun. They're all fun. The stuff, you know. So back to it, really. It keeps. Not to sound like a broken record, but it always comes back to normalcy. You know, a child's in foster care and their advocate, you know, is the one going to court and telling the judge what they need or what's in their best interest and, you know, fighting for them in school meetings and all these other types of settings, that's great. And we need that. And to me, the advocacy is definitely the biggest, most important thing. But if this child is also going to school, you know, without appropriate winter clothing, you know, with no coat, or if they're going to school wearing clothes that are two sizes too small or two sizes too big, there's only so much the advocacy is ever going to do in terms of their self confidence, their emotional well being, you know, their ability to fit in and participate in activities with peers. So that's really where the Open Door Store kind of has really organically grown. It came out of, you know, the very early days of our Passaic County CASA program when we had kids who needed specific things, you know, they, they couldn't play on the soccer team because they needed to buy cleats and nobody would pay for the cleats. Yeah, you know, they needed a winter coat because it was cold. And, you know, they were living in a group home that didn't have access to those types of donations. And so originally it was just like a one off. This kid needs one specific thing. Usually one of us on staff would just go get it and you know, or ask friends or family for donations and get it and give it to them. But the needs became more and more as our program grew. We needed a lot more things, a lot more often. So kind of gradually over time, we formalized that stuff into a program which we now call the open door Store. And it really is a store. I don't know if you saw it when you walked in, but if not, I'll show you when you're leaving. There's a room in our office here in Wayne, and then we have a satellite office in Elizabeth, right downtown Elizabeth, that also has a room within that office that's really, it's built out. It looks like you're walking into a really cool, fancy children's boutique that would be in a high income, cute little downtown, except it's inside our office. And it's everything that a child could want from the day they're discharged from the hospital. All the basic baby essentials all the way up to teenage clothes, the cool shoes, the Nike hoodies, again, whatever we would want to go to school or whatever our kids would want. Because my kids would tell me, I don't drink, dress cool. My kids are very critical of my clothing. But that's a also different. 

Mike Ham [33:01 - 33:07]: My fant says I was a total like tear down and rebuild on in the fashion department. So, yeah, you know, whatever. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [33:07 - 33:13]: You know, we used to go to school wearing like sweatpants and hoodies, but yeah, I don't know. Now it's got to be a specific type of sweatpants and hoodies. 

Mike Ham [33:13 - 33:14]: Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [33:14 - 33:59]: And we want our kids just because, again, be it just because they're in foster care, to be able to fit whatever that is, Whether it's sweatpants and hoodies or, you know, specific jeans and a dress up shirt or something. So we encourage our kids to have the agency to come and shop for themselves, pick out. It's not like, oh, my caseworker dropped off this bag of stuff and it's nothing I even like. Right. So the store is open Obviously, we say store, but there's no money exchanged. It's completely free for kids and their foster parents to come and pick out what they want, what they need. They can try it on. You know, they can pick out. I like this color, but not that color. It changes every season. You know, we've got whatever season, appropriate stuff, you know, coming in, and the last season goes back into storage. 

Mike Ham [33:59 - 33:59]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [33:59 - 34:08]: And that is all run by volunteers, and it's all filled by donations. So it's only new. There's no hand me downs again to that normalcy policy. 

Mike Ham [34:08 - 34:08]: Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [34:08 - 34:19]: We definitely could. We. We would be swamped if we said we took, you know, lightly used or hand me down clothes, but we don't. We believe that children in foster care should have new things and not be a hand me down. 

Mike Ham [34:19 - 34:20]: Yeah, yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [34:21 - 34:33]: And that in itself, I have seen so much payout, payoff. You know, kids come in and I think they expect it to be used if. If it's their first time, you know, coming to the store. 

Mike Ham [34:33 - 34:34]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [34:34 - 34:42]: And recently there was a little girl who was shopping on a Saturday, and she picked up. She goes, wait, this is new. You know, there's tags on it. 

Mike Ham [34:42 - 34:42]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [34:42 - 34:49]: And I was like, yeah. She goes, am I allowed to have it because it's new? And I was like, yeah, you can have it. 

Mike Ham [34:49 - 34:50]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [34:50 - 35:02]: Does it fit you? Is that the one you want? Yeah. And. And yeah, it was. It was a, you know, like winter fuzzy kind of coat kind of thing. But she was shocked that she was being given access to pick a new one. 

Mike Ham [35:02 - 35:04]: Yeah. You know, like, how cool is that? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [35:04 - 35:08]: And that's what she thought. And she. I was like, do you want the purple one or the pink one? This is, you know, she was like. 

Mike Ham [35:08 - 35:10]: Second, third grade, and it's, like, made her. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [35:11 - 35:12]: She was so excited. So excited. 

Mike Ham [35:13 - 35:14]: The whole thing. Yeah. Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [35:14 - 36:04]: So we do that same thing throughout the year. You know, when it's August, it's school supplies, back to school backpacks and all of that. Obviously, this time of year we're doing winter coats. We always have the basic, you know, socks and underwear and pajamas and all that kind of stuff, which we need in the spring. You know, we do special occasion dresses, whether it's, you know, a prom or an 8th grade dance or. You know, sometimes children are involved, you know, in a religious organization that they need special clothing for. So we make sure that they have access to all that in the springtime or whenever they need it. But usually it's spring, and then the summer, we switch to summer stuff. You know, most of Our kids do go to camp of some kind. And you need to bring a bathing suit, you need to bring a towel. And depending on where they're living, they may not have access to a ton of beach towels. Just sitting around, you know, the group home that they're in. 

Mike Ham [36:04 - 36:05]: Yeah. Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [36:05 - 36:23]: So again, we make sure that they can come and pick out what they want and what fits them. And, you know, that's open to any child who's in foster care across any of the counties that our programs work in. So that's Passaic, Hudson, Essex, and Union County. I'm like, I forgot one. 

Mike Ham [36:23 - 36:35]: I had you. I was getting ready to say it. That's amazing. And I think that that, like. Like I just said, it's. That to me is like a really cool thing, like you said. Almost expecting it to be hand me down, but then it's new stuff. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [36:35 - 36:41]: Yeah. Every time. Every time a child comes in for the first time, I just love watching them being able to pick things out. 

Mike Ham [36:41 - 36:42]: Yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [36:42 - 37:13]: And sometimes they're so shy to even say they want something, and you can kind of like see them eyeing something up. Especially the little. The littler kids. Yeah. You know, and sometimes the teenagers, too. Teenagers, you know, well, they want it more than anybody often, but are really hesitant to ask, you know, can I have that thing on the shelf? And we really just try to make them, you know, you know, within reason. We've got to make all this stuff spread around. We can't have one person come in and clean out the whole room. But, yeah, we want to make sure that, you know, they are getting what they want. 

Mike Ham [37:13 - 37:40]: Yeah. And I think it just. It's like, to me, it's like. And it's like a thing where we talked about before, like I think you said, it's like sometimes kids may not say something that's in their best interest. And I think that in this world that we're talking about and the people that you're trying to help, it's like giving them, like, agency to pick something for themselves for, like, possibly the first time in their entire life. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [37:40 - 37:50]: Yeah. Especially our kids, our younger kids. Yeah. And that we use the word agency all the time. You know, that agency then leads into better. Just mental wellbeing, more confidence. 

Mike Ham [37:50 - 37:56]: Yes. Because like, their whole life really is like being dictated by so many other people. And then they able they'll take some of that back. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [37:56 - 38:37]: Sometimes it's that one time, especially after the process of being removed from home and put in foster care where they maybe don't know anybody. They don't know anything. They only took a small bag of their own belongings. They're at a place where they really are not making any decisions for themselves. They may not even be deciding what they want for breakfast because this is what we have. And. And you may eat one cereal, but that one's not an option. So this is just one tiny little way that we can help give them that choice back in their life and hopefully then it spills over into other aspects, into school and into home over time. 

Mike Ham [38:37 - 38:44]: Amazing. Okay, I want to get into. Because we're getting close to the end of the episode, get into ways that people can get involved. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [38:44 - 38:45]: That's my favorite part. 

Mike Ham [38:45 - 39:04]: There we go. We talked about volunteer stuff already a couple times over the course of the episode. But. But obviously this time of year. So for people that are listening, we are recording this a week before Thanksgiving. So getting into the holiday season is going to come out before like Christmas and all that. So I think that'll be helpful. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [39:04 - 39:04]: Good. 

Mike Ham [39:04 - 39:23]: Yes. And then, so what are some things that are going on right now? And then we'll kind of get into more like the year round stuff because obviously, like, this is a big time where people are feeling generous, generous and all that, which is great. But obviously, like these things that we're talking about don't just start and stop between like November 1st and December 31st. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [39:23 - 42:48]: You know, can we record that snippet and use that on our advertising? Because I clip it for you. No. Yes. This is the most generous time of the year, I think, for society as a whole. Every organization, you know, is always focused on a specific holiday, you know, kind of thing, you know, end of year collection or something, which is fabulous. But we do need help all year long because, you know, foster care doesn't end on January 1st. Our kids are still here the rest of the year. But I still, I love the holiday season because it exposes is not the great word, but, you know, it really makes people aware of our organization, but really more importantly of our children and the needs that they have in a lot wider. To a lot wider population than often are aware of the needs. So the holiday season is a great time for people to get involved in a small way and learn more and kind of decide through that learning process whether it's something that they're interested in getting engaged in again in the future or ongoing. And I would say if someone has an interest to support children in foster care, there is a way for everybody. Not everybody can volunteer, but everybody can donate something small or share a post on social Media so somebody else can learn about it. Every little thing matters to these kids and to us as an organization helping children and foster. But right now, we are at our end of year campaign, which, of course is a big fundraising period. It takes, you know, we're not government funded, other than some competitive grants which we apply for and we may get or we may not get every year. So majority of our funding is from individuals, fundraising events, private family foundations, local foundations. So this is a big push of end of year fundraising. And those financial gifts mean that we can advocate for more kids and we can provide more kids that normalcy that they need. And of course, to this very specific normalcy, we make sure every child has what's on their wish list for that holiday season. So whether they're celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or Ramadan, we make sure that a child is. They submit their specific wish list to their advocate, to our staff. And rather than just a general toy collection. Yeah, we always add more than what they wish because we're a little over on the holidays, but over the top, I should say. Yeah. We want to make sure if they ask for a specific color, specific LEGO set, that that's the one they're getting. They're not just getting any old LEGO set, you know, that happens to be donated. So that it's just a really exciting. I would say, you know, we. My program director and our development director and I are responsible for, you know, depending on the year, between five and hundred kids getting what Santa, you know, is supposed to be bringing them. Yeah. Sometimes our own biological children don't get what they want because I forget to deal with their own wishes until, like, oh, it's Christmas Eve. I have to buy stuff for my kids. But it's so much fun. And it really. It allows us to get to talk about the work we do to, you know, donors and community members. It allows people to come in and get to know us in a way that, you know, we don't necessarily get to do the rest of the year. So that is why I love the holiday season around here. 

Mike Ham [42:48 - 42:50]: Yeah. There's a winter coat drive, too. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [42:50 - 42:51]: Yes. 

Mike Ham [42:51 - 42:51]: Right. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [42:51 - 42:55]: Yep. So, you know, winter coats, to me, a basic. Like, everybody needs them. 

Mike Ham [42:55 - 42:56]: Sure. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [42:56 - 43:04]: They're already going out the door because suddenly we went from, I don't know, whatever temperature it was. Yeah. To cold and rainy today. 

Mike Ham [43:04 - 43:05]: Y. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:05 - 43:38]: So everybody needs coats. It is. The winter coat drive goes through December 9th, I think it is. And if children don't. Don't, you know, have a winter coat now, sometimes we always have a back stock. So we'll take them any time of the year. Because kids do come into foster care in January, February, March, and sometimes, you know, often don't come in with the coat. So it's not just a one time thing either. Like anything else, you know, we always have an extra back supply of school supplies because if a child comes in to foster care in the middle of the year, they still need school supplies. It's not a September only kind of thing. 

Mike Ham [43:38 - 43:38]: Yeah, yeah. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:38 - 43:42]: So right now our focus is the winter coat drive and then the holiday gift wish list collection. 

Mike Ham [43:42 - 43:50]: Amazing. This has been awesome. I really appreciate you coming on and chatting with us and telling you, telling us all about child focus and everything. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:50 - 43:51]: Yeah, no, it's been fun. 

Mike Ham [43:51 - 43:52]: Yeah, absolutely. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:52 - 43:55]: Can we get you to be a CASA volunteer maybe? 

Mike Ham [43:55 - 43:58]: Yeah, I mean, I do live in Essex county, so that's, you know, close. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:58 - 43:59]: Enough to drive here. 

Mike Ham [43:59 - 43:59]: There you go. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [43:59 - 44:01]: You can live anywhere and volunteer anywhere. 

Mike Ham [44:01 - 44:01]: Okay. Even better. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [44:01 - 44:02]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [44:02 - 44:14]: So that kind of leading into that. If people are like listening to this episode and they really enjoy what you guys do and they want to get involved or they just want to like learn more, where would you send them to go do that? 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [44:14 - 45:04]: Visit our website first. Childfocusnj.org there's links, you know, dropdown pages for each of our programs. The CASA program again, is where most of our volunteer usage is. And the CASA volunteer is a big commitment because it's a, you know, it's not your average volunteer role. We ask for, you know, a long term time commitment because the average case is 18 to 24 months. And we need people who can make that long term commitment to that specific child. But if people even have the slightest bit of interest, we always say, come to an information session, call the office, email us so we can tell you more about it and answer your questions. There's no commitment to come to one of those open houses, but visit the website. There's tons of information about the volunteering for that or volunteering more in the open door store in terms of donations and helping in that way. 

Mike Ham [45:04 - 45:32]: Amazing. I will make sure we put that in the show notes. People just go click it. Go right there. Again, thank you so much for inviting me here and then doing the episode with us. It was amazing. So we'll put childfocusnj.org in the show notes along with greetings from thegarden state.com which of course you can get all of our other episodes that we released so far in 2024. But we're coming up this might honestly wind up being one of the last episodes. Well, it will be, I think, probably the last episode of the year. 

Erica Fischer-Kaslander [45:32 - 45:32]: Going out with a bang. 

Mike Ham [45:32 - 45:45]: That's right. Amazing. So we were here today at Child Focus in Wayne, New Jersey, with executive director Erica Fisher Castlander. I'm Mike Hamm. This has been the Greetings from the Garda State podcast powered by the New Jersey Lottery. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time.