November 2024

We invite you to meet Kurt Remington, nominated by Lead Child Welfare Advocacy Specialist Sol O’Leary. Kurt joined Child Advocates as a volunteer in 2023, and he has worked on one child welfare case that closed with a successful monitored return home with a parent.

“Kurt is genuinely one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Sol said. “He made a tremendous difference in his first case. Not only was he a wonderful Advocate for the young child, but he was also supportive of the child’s mother and older brother. Kurt recognized early on that the entire family needed support so that the child he served can thrive.”

We asked Kurt to share his experiences as an Advocate for vulnerable children in our community.

Is there anything unique about your background that contributes to your approach to advocacy?

I was a foster parent when my wife and I adopted two kids who were in foster care. Both of our girls had a CASA volunteer during their time in care, so we got to experience the value of a good Advocate. Advocacy was always something I wanted to do when I retired—this cause is intensely personal for me. Unfortunately, I developed cancer and that put the brakes on everything for me. About a year ago, I realized I had the time to give back now rather than wait for retirement.

How did you become interested in volunteering as an Advocate?

While I was in recovery from cancer, I was going to yoga twice a week at Fitness Project. I saw the Child Advocates banner at the gym. I already knew about the program because of our experience with the foster care system. It was like a bolt of lightning—I’d wanted to do this and now I had the time. [Editor note: Fitness Project is a community partner of Child Advocates. As part of this partnership, Fitness Project provides space for Child Advocates’ banners at its gyms to raise community awareness and makes a generous quarterly donation to Child Advocates. Thank you, Fitness Project!]

Did you have any reservations about volunteering? How did you overcome them?

As a cancer patient, my only reservation was not being able to follow through to the end of a case through no fault of my own. I knew how the child welfare system worked, and I knew how important it was to have a steady person in a child’s life at their most vulnerable time. I didn’t want to leave a child in the middle of a case. Tomorrow is never promised but letting down a child in care was my biggest reservation. I overcame that concern by asking myself “If not me, then who?” There will never be a perfect time to do this kind of volunteer work, and it’s a calling.

Explain in your own words the work you do as a volunteer Advocate. Why is it essential for a child?

As an Advocate, you are there from the very start of the case to the end, and it can be a long process. You’re the consistent person running a “marathon” next to a child in crisis. Everyone else involved in the case is a professional—the Advocate is the only volunteer. In my case, the child experienced two foster homes and different caseworkers. Children in care need stability, and the Advocate is always in their corner for them.

What has surprised you the most about advocacy?

I was most surprised by the in-depth training that we got before we became Advocates. The entire staff is readily available to support the volunteers. Anytime I come in, the staff makes me feel welcome and not a burden. I’d never worked with an organization before that was so willing to make sure I had whatever kind of assistance I needed for my volunteer work. Whether it’s offering training on a Saturday or answering questions about my case, it’s nice as a volunteer to be appreciated and supported. It feels like the staff has our back and it means the world to us.

What has been the most difficult aspect of volunteering as an Advocate?

Sometimes the confidentiality portion of our volunteer work is a challenge. It can hurt certain people in a case, like foster parents, when Advocates can’t share information with them. Confidentiality is crucial to a case and is for the protection of the child. As an Advocate, you’re there for the child and your commitment is to what’s best for that child. Sometimes not all parties agree to what’s best for a child—that’s hard too.

Most rewarding aspect of volunteering as an Advocate?

The most rewarding part is the connection I built over time with the child in my case. When I first met him, he was very standoffish. He didn’t seem to care about me one way or another. Then, slowly, he started to seem happy to see me every month. For my last visit, his mom told him the night before that I was coming the next day, and he woke up early because he was so excited to see me. He greeted me with a hug, and we played with toy cars. His favorite one is a light-up police truck that I gave him for his birthday that I picked up at the Child Advocates office. At the end of the visit, his mom said that I was special to him.

What would you like the community to know about children in care?

When a lot of people think about a kid in foster care, they see a child who is “broken.” I see a kid who needs help and a kid who has worth. They’re not broken. Every child has value and potential. This child is going to be great in their own way, and we need diversity and inclusion for our society to grow. The more we take a look outside of ourselves and our own experiences, the more we see the worth of everyone around us.

Is there a particular moment or memory that stands out for you?

After the child I advocated for was placed with his mom in a monitored return home, I went to visit him for the first time at his house. We built a train track and talked while we played. There were no distractions—we were just having a good time. When it was time to leave, we cleaned up the toys and I started walking toward the door. He said, “Mr. Kurt,” and motioned for me to bend down. I bent down, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. It felt like a full-circle moment. He’s too young to understand everything that has happened to him in the past year, and he can’t verbalize all that he thinks and feels. But that moment felt like his way of saying “thank you” for helping him and helping his mom so he could return home with her, where he should be.

Anything else you want to share about Child Advocates?

The staff at Child Advocates is amazing. The staff provides all the tools we need to succeed. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent on the phone with my Advocacy Specialist, asking questions. Everyone is available to answer questions and help you find resources and solve any problems. The staff empowers me so that I can serve others.