An Interview With Antwone Fisher

One of my favorite books is "Finding Fish" by Antwone Quenton Fisher, a former foster child who has beaten all of the odds to become a successful author, screenwriter, and film producer. He also wrote the screenplay for the movie, "Antoine Fisher," starring Denzel Washington.

Antwone's challenges begin before he is born, when his father is killed by a girlfriend in a tragic accident. Born in prison to a single mother who has no means to care for him, he is sent to live with a foster family, where he endures near-constant verbal and physical abuse by those who shelter him. Antwone chronicles his experiences from personal memory and incorporates into his story accounts from the many caseworkers who tracked his progress and decline in the foster care system.

In his mid-teens, he leaves his foster family and enters George Junior Republic, a private institution where he begins to turn his life around. Not long after, as an emancipated minor, Antwone winds up homeless.

In order to avoid the dangers and uncertainties of life on the street, he enlists in the Navy, and he becomes a man of the world. During the course of his naval career, Antwone finally acknowledges the pain that his childhood has caused him, and he begins to deal with some of the rage that he has suppressed for many years. He creates a family for himself out of his comrades in the Navy, and he explores his own growing fascination with language and writing.

Recently, on the Harper-Collins website (the publisher of "Finding Fish"), I found this interview with Antwone Fisher:

Q. In Finding Fish, you describe your upbringing as a foster child in fairly stark terms. Do you think the foster care system is inherently flawed?

A. I would hate to sound pessimistic, but I think there are problems that can't be avoided like young people becoming social workers and deciding after a few months or a few years that they are going to do something different with their lives. That creates a situation where a kid has to get to know someone else all over again. Children arrive at a place where they don't trust the jurisdiction they are under and feel as though they are alone in their circumstance and that the social workers are only strangers passing through.

Another area of concern would be lack of resources for programs that could improve lives of children in foster care and educate the public to the need of good foster parents and adoptive parents and many other areas in this matter. I think that it's not a great enough priority to the powers that be to provide better lives for children in these unfortunate situations.

There are a lot of problems that would be solved if only the community would become more involved and volunteer to be mentors and extended family to foster children. I think that a child who is in foster care for two and three years, with no real feeling of permanence in a family will feel unwanted in the world. Adoption should be an option for those children.

Q. What was it like for you to read the reports of social workers and psychologists charting your experience in foster care? Why did you decide to include those third-person accounts in your memoir?

A. It was enlightening to read what my social workers had described in my childhood records. Reading their details was confirmation; it was proof that I hadn't dreamt the whole thing. That foster family actually existed.

I used the records in my memoir to validate my memory to others.

Q. Did reuniting with the Elkins and Fisher families change the way that you think about your place in the world?

A. Meeting the Fishers and Elkins made me more confident in my being. Finally, I had living proof that I came from somewhere. Yes, it makes me know that I have a place in the world and that I belong to something.

Q. Would you characterize yourself as a survivor? To what do you attribute your will to persevere in the face of the many obstacles of your childhood?

A. I suppose I would consider myself a survivor. We are all survivors in life; even people who have had better childhoods. You survive. I don't like the idea of saying survivor because it makes me feel handicapped. Feeling handicapped makes me feel that I am not as capable of succeeding as others. I've come to realize the power of words and I would rather not use that word in reference to myself. Call it pretending, but it works for me.

I was able to persevere because I wanted to be normal like I felt everyone else was. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to live. I never wanted the negative things my foster mother said about me to be true. I wanted to show others and myself that I am worthwhile.

Q. Did you ever learn what became of your first foster mother, Mrs. Strange? Did the publication of your memoir enable encounters with any other "lost" figures from your past?

A. While filming the movie, Antwone Fisher, in Cleveland, someone who knew Mrs. Strange had read the book and brought me her picture and told me that she had died some years ago.

I think I have met and reconnected with everyone that I felt I had lost. Everyone who was meaningful to me in someway. Even some members of my foster family showed up at book signings in Cleveland and in Florida. That was really bizarre. The most interesting encounters were reacquainting with my childhood friends such as Michael Shields, Sonya, Fat Kenny, and Freda. One of the saddest discoveries was that my foster sister, Flo, died in the spring of 1999, lonely and unfulfilled, of a brain aneurism. It broke my heart.

Q. The story of your life is not only the subject of this memoir, but also of a major motion picture. What aspects of your newfound fame have you found especially rewarding or challenging?

A. The most rewarding aspect of having a memoir and film about my life is that opportunity to write more, I would think. Having a voice, after growing up voiceless is a real accomplishment and I feel good about where I am. There haven't been very many challenges simply because people don't know what I look like, but I am still basically shy, so having to speak in front of people is challenging.

Tri-County CASA volunteers, if you have not, please take some time to read "Finding Fish" and/or to watch the movie "Antwone Fisher." A few years ago, Antwone Fisher spoke at a National CASA Conference, and he acknowledged that he would have benefitted greatly from having had a CASA volunteer.

So, when you feel as though the work you do is not terribly important to the world, think about what would happen if you weren't engaged in the work you are doing. You DO make a difference!

- Biographical information and interview with Antwone Fisher courtesy of the Harper-Collins website.

Going Paperless!

You may have received a postcard in the mail recently announcing that "The Connection," the National CASA Association's news and information magazine, has been posted on the web.

Formerly, you may have been receiving these magazines in a printed format. Now, in an effort to provide information more quickly and to be "greener" about the process, the National CASA Association has begun publishing much of its information through online forums.

You can find the latest issue of The Connection here:

The Connection Magazine - National CASA

Happy reading!

Is The CASA Program Effective?

Before volunteering with an organization, most people do research to see if their time will be well spent, in other words, will they be able to see themselves making a difference?

I have spent the better part of my career working with causes (mainly higher education) that engage volunteers to accomplish their mission. While the causes I have worked with were quite worthy and laudable, none have impressed me with their long-term impact like the CASA movement has. I have seen firsthand how Tri-County CASA makes a difference in the lives of children and their families, particularly in the areas of safety and permanency.

One recent study gives further proof of CASA's efficacy. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG), at the request of Congress, conducted an audit of the National CASA Association, the national organization to which Tri-County CASA belongs and reports.

They found:

1. Children with a CASA volunteer are substantially less likely to spend time in long-term foster care, defined as more than 3 years in care: 13.3% for CASA cases versus 27.0% of all children in foster care.

2. When a CASA volunteer was involved, both children and their parents were ordered by the courts to receive more services. The audit concluded that this was an indication that “CASA is effective in identifying the needs of children and parents.”

3. Cases involving a CASA volunteer are more likely to be permanently closed than cases where a CASA volunteer is not involved. The statistics vary from only 1.4% of children with a CASA volunteer reentering the CWS (CASA Data Request) to 9% of CASA children reentering the CWS (Youngclarke Review). This is in contrast to 16% for children not served by a volunteer.

4. Children with a CASA volunteer are more likely to be adopted and less likely to be reunified with their parents than children not assigned a CASA volunteer. The audit explains this finding as the result of CASA volunteers serving on typically the most serious cases of maltreatment and therefore cases where children are less likely to be reunified with their parents.

Several other studies (see the References below for more details) showcase the unique effective nature of CASA volunteer advocacy, namely that:

1. CASA volunteers spend most of their volunteer time in contact with a child.

2. CASA volunteers spend significantly more time in contact with a child than a paid guardian ad litem.

3. CASA volunteers are far more likely than paid attorneys to file written reports.

4. CASA volunteers are highly effective in getting their recommendations accepted in court. In four out of five cases, all or almost all CASA volunteer recommendations are accepted.

5. When a CASA volunteer is assigned, a higher number of services are ordered for children and families.

6. A child with a CASA volunteer is more likely to be adopted.

7. A child with a CASA volunteer is as likely to be reunified with their birth parent as a child without a CASA volunteer.

8. A child with a CASA volunteer is less likely to reenter the child welfare system. The proportion of reentries is consistently reduced by half.

If you are interested in volunteering with an organization that makes a positive short-term and long-term impact in the lives of vulnerable children, please consider the court appointed special advocate program.

For more information, or to volunteer, please call Tri-County CASA at (918) 343-1515.

REFERENCES

1. Caliber Associates, National CASA Association Evaluation Project, Caliber Associates; Fairfax, Virginia, 2004.
2. Donald D. Duquette and Sarah H. Ramsey, “Using Lay Volunteers to Represent Children in Child Protection Court Proceedings” (Appendix C). Child Abuse and Neglect 10(3): p. 293-308, 1986.
3. Sherrie S. Aitken, Larry Condelli, and Tom Kelly, Final Report of the Validation and Effectiveness Study of Legal Representation Through Guardian Ad Litem. Report submitted to the Administration on Children Youth and Families, Department of Health and Human Services by CSR, Inc.: Washington, DC, 1993.
4. Karen C. Snyder, John D. Downing, and Jill A. Jacobson, A Report to the Ohio Children's Foundation on the Effectiveness of the CASA Program of Franklin County. The Strategy Team: Columbus, OH, 1996.
5. Victoria Weisz and Nghi Thai, “The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program: Bringing information to Child Abuse and Neglect Cases,” Child Maltreatment 8(X), 2003.
6. Larry Condelli, National Evaluation of the Impact of Guardian Ad Litem in Child Abuse and Neglect Judicial Proceedings. Report submitted to the National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect for the Administration of Children, Youth and Families by CSR, Inc.: Washington, DC, 1988.
7. Litzelfelner, “The Effectiveness of CASAs in Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children,” Child Welfare 79(2): p. 179-193, 2000.
8. John Poertner and Allan Press, “Who Best Represents the Interests of the Child in Court?” Child Welfare 69(6): p. 537-549, 1990.
9. Gene C. Siegel, et al., Arizona CASA effectiveness study. Report to the Arizona Supreme Courts, Administrative Office of the Courts, Dependent Children's Services Division by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, 2001.
10. Susan M. Profilet, et al., Guardian ad Litem Project. Child Advocates Inc., 1999.
11. Shareen Abramson, “Use of Court-Appointed Advocates to Assist in Permanency Planning for Minority Children,” Child Welfare 70(4): p. 477-487, 1991.
12. Michael Powell and Vernon Speshock, Arizona Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program, Internal Assessment, 1996.

All statistical information for this article is from the National CASA Association, of which Tri-County CASA is a member in good standing.