‘Foster the CASA Cat’ explores trust, trauma and patience
By Page H. Gifford
Coorespondent
Author Kari Joyner will speak about her book Foster the CASA Cat and her work with CASA on March 4 at 10 a.m. at a Friends of the Library event.
Joyner earned a history degree from Longwood University and spent 10 years teaching at Randolph-Henry High School while completing a master’s degree in school library media. She later served seven years as the school’s librarian.
A lifelong cat owner, Joyner said she immediately connected with Foster, the stray cat who wandered into the CASA office.
“One day, while I was trying unsuccessfully to coax her closer, I had a realization,” she said. “This is exactly what many of the children we serve at CASA experience. Even when adults show up with consistency and compassion, children who have lived through trauma may still hesitate to trust or connect.”
That insight became the foundation for Foster: The CASA Cat, which uses the office cat’s story as an allegory for the emotional journey many children face in foster care. The book helps young readers understand why some children may seem guarded or slow to warm up, and how patience and consistency can make a difference.
The book was created for children in foster care and the advocates who support them. Joyner said donors helped ensure that every child served by Piedmont CASA received a copy. A Rotary Club Local Service Grant later expanded distribution to elementary schools throughout the organization’s service area. The book is now also available in Spanish, translated with help from a former colleague.
Joyner became involved with CASA while preparing to relocate to Charlottesville. After years in education, she said she was ready for a new way to serve.
“I loved my work in education and the relationships I built with students, but I felt ready to apply the skills I’d gained — communication, advocacy and relationship-building — in a different setting,” she said. “CASA felt like the right place to combine purpose with meaningful, community-based work.”
Piedmont CASA provides best-interest advocacy for children involved in the court system in Virginia’s 16th Judicial District, which includes Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Fluvanna. The organization recruits and trains volunteers who serve as consistent advocates for children who have experienced abuse or neglect.
“A CASA volunteer often becomes one of the few steady adults in a child’s life,” Joyner said. “Our goal is to make sure a child’s needs and best interests are clearly represented in court.”
She hopes the book helps children in foster care feel safer connecting with caring adults and encourages empathy more broadly.
“Sometimes,” she said, “the most powerful thing we can offer is patience.”
