Those Who Serve
Short profiles of the Jefferson County neighbors who answer the call in public safety, social work, and community care.
Those Who Serve: Vicki Hanson Knows What a Steady Presence Can Mean for a Child
Her family's experience with foster care showed Hanson how much children can carry with them, and why having one dependable adult can become a source of trust, stability, and hope.
By The Jefferson Review Staff
Long before Vicki Hanson joined the CASA of Jefferson County board, foster care had already become part of her family's story.
Her oldest daughter became a foster parent and later adopted two boys. Today, Hanson's grandsons are 24 and 28 years old. They are not biological brothers and entered foster care under very different circumstances, but Hanson does not hesitate when describing what they became.
They are brothers.
Her younger grandson was born prematurely, weighing approximately three pounds, and experienced drug withdrawal after birth. Her older grandson came into Hanson's daughter's care when he was five years old. His biological mother had herself grown up in foster care and struggled after aging out of the system.
Hanson watched her daughter, a single mother, choose to open her home to children who might otherwise have faced additional uncertainty.
And Hanson made sure they had another home waiting for them, too.
“I was there for the boys and their mom as much as possible, providing a second home for them,” Hanson said. “In a way, I served as a CASA for them.”
That experience shaped the way she sees children who enter foster care and the adults who choose to stand beside them.
As an educator, Hanson had also seen how trauma and instability can follow children into school, affecting learning, relationships, emotions, and a child's ability to trust the people around them.
She understands that what adults see on the outside may only be a small part of what a child is carrying internally.
“The kids are scared and have lots of different feelings, feelings that are very mixed up and contradictory,” Hanson said.
Those feelings can become even more difficult when other parts of a child's life continue changing.
A placement can change. A case manager can change. School circumstances can change. Family relationships can change.
Hanson believes that is what makes the consistency of a CASA volunteer so valuable.
The volunteer can become the person who keeps showing up.
“The CASA volunteer can become one person who is consistently available to them, to listen and to develop a relationship,” Hanson said.
Over time, she said, that relationship can help a child begin to trust that someone is truly there for them.
The volunteer can listen without judgment, help the child understand what is happening around them, and advocate for what that child needs.
For Hanson, the importance goes beyond simply helping a child navigate appointments or court proceedings. It is also about helping children understand that the circumstances surrounding them do not define who they are.
“Often they feel unlovable and that it's their fault somehow,” Hanson said.
A trusted adult can help challenge those feelings.
Eventually, she said, a child may come to understand that the CASA volunteer can be their voice, someone who will advocate for them and help make sure their needs do not disappear in the midst of everything changing around them.
That perspective also shapes the way Hanson approaches her work on the CASA board.
She sees the board's responsibility as supporting the staff and volunteers who make those relationships possible, including providing training, offering opportunities for peer support, and listening to concerns brought forward by CASA's director and staff.
“I want to help CASA be there for the kids,” Hanson said. “It's the CASA volunteers and staff who make it happen.”
Stories shared during board meetings help keep that purpose from becoming abstract.
Hanson has heard about volunteers who remain connected to children even after those children move away because the relationship they built became important to both of them. She has also listened as volunteers describe their experiences, their compassion visible as they talk about the children they serve.
Those moments reinforce her belief that Jefferson County needs more people willing to step forward.
Hanson's personal goal is ambitious: she wants every child in foster care in Jefferson County who needs an advocate to have one.
She knows CASA is not there yet.
Part of that challenge is financial. Hanson said government funding has been decreasing, while grants can be uncertain from year to year. Community support is increasingly important if the organization is going to maintain its work and expand it.
But money alone cannot fill the gap.
CASA also needs people.
“Community support means everything,” Hanson said. “We need community support so that CASA can continue and grow.”
For someone who has thought about volunteering but immediately wondered whether they have the right experience, Hanson hopes they will not disqualify themselves before learning more.
Her advice is to attend an informational session and find out what the role actually requires.
The qualifications she considers most important cannot necessarily be found on a résumé.
“All that is needed is time and a heart that is for kids,” Hanson said.
For Hanson, that willingness to care, listen, and remain present can become something enormously important in the life of a child.
When so much else may be changing, one person who keeps showing up can become a source of hope.
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