A Big Personality and a Full Life

Meeting Tina Haas Healey, one is struck by her big personality and her equally big heart. She has a full time career, is a wife, mom, grandma, and a CASA. In her “spare time” she adopted a Frenchie dog she describes as a "psycho little alien” before laughing and adding, “she’s eaten every door jamb in our house and disintegrates everything, but we love her and now she is part of our family.” She’s also been caring for her son’s gecko, including feeding it live crickets and buying it toys on holidays, for the past fifteen years after he outgrew his reptile phase.

Overcoming Hardship and Finding Purpose

Tina’s life is busy and full. She describes herself as a positive person, but her life has also been filled with profound sadness and loss. She spent time in foster care as a child - her mom an alcoholic and her dad died of an overdose. She became a mom at a very young age. But Tina says those experiences shaped who she became as a person, “I am a survivor and I always tried to do the opposite of what my mom did once I became a mother.”

Unfortunately, Tina faced more hardship in her life as she lost her ex-husband and one of their sons to violence and, years later, tragically lost another son. Eventually, she went on to remarry and have another son, and began to think about becoming a foster parent. She says, “I wasn't sure if I had the emotional bandwidth, so when my sister told me about CASA, I gave it some thought. However, at the time, I was too busy commuting back and forth to L.A. for my job to really pursue it.”

Becoming a CASA

In 2024, Tina resigned from her demanding job, exhausted from the commute and stress. She says she was seeking more peace in her life and that’s when she decided to move forward with becoming a CASA. After completing her training, she was sworn in earlier this year. When she was initially matched with two young sisters, aged 5 and 6, she felt some apprehension. “Coming out of training and being assigned two kids at once, especially two girls when I’m a boy-mom, felt like a lot at first.” But she credits her CASA supervisor Nikki Arbanas for walking her through those early days.

“Nikki told me, ‘You have the personality to work with these girls,’ and she was right, we connected right away.” Tina explains the support she felt when she first met the family, “Nikki and her supervisor were there with me when I first met the girls.” Within a few months of their match, the two girls, who were living with their mom under a family maintenance plan, were removed from the home and placed with their grandma in another county. Tina says, “I didn’t want the girls to have to get established with a new CASA so I stayed on the case. I had to establish a bond with their grandma and dad and assure them I was just there as a volunteer to advocate on behalf of the kids. It’s all about them.”

Commitment, Connection, and Advocacy

Earlier this year, Tina accepted another full-time position closer to home, running a company with three offices. Her commute to see the girls in Riverside County has been difficult, but Tina says, “It’s a challenge but they’re so fun; these girls have high energy and I’m pretty hyper myself. I got home the other night about 9:30 after working all day then driving to see them and taking them to Chuck E Cheese. But I love it when I get there and the girls are so excited to see me. We went to a pumpkin patch last month and we went to the zoo, our next outing will be bowling or the movies.” The girls also have a little brother who doesn’t have his own CASA so Tina always tries to bring him back a little treat after their visits so he doesn't feel left out.

“The girls miss their mom and talk about her a lot,” says Tina. “Kids just want to be with their family even if it’s not the best circumstances. I remember being taken away from my mom. I just wanted to be with her even though she wasn’t a good person at the time and was dealing with her own demons.” The girls have been in four homes in the past year so Tina tries to help them with little things like learning their own address. She says, “I try to keep life lessons relevant and age appropriate for them.”

Training, Growth, and Recognition

Tina says her CASA training helped prepare her for this role, “There’s a lot of support and resources. I liked the interaction and was really glad to see the very thorough background check with fingerprinting. Anything you need, you can reach out and call anytime - everyone gets back to you. The CASA team has the best follow up I’ve ever experienced.”

She also really enjoyed attending the annual CASA volunteers conference this summer. “Going to the conference was awesome. That’s when I first learned of CASA’s Juvenile Justice work. I was kind of against it at first, but after listening to the stories and the impact the advocates can have, I might explore that when I’m done with this case. You have these kids’ undivided attention because they can’t go anywhere and they’re probably so excited to have someone visiting them there.”

“I’m an open book,” Tina says, “and I joined CASA because of my own childhood experiences. I told my kids, if they got in trouble I would not visit them in jail. I didn’t want to be in those places because my mom used to take us to visit my dad and I remember thinking, this doesn’t seem normal. My own preconceived ideas about youth in the justice system were challenged after learning more about it through CASA and I’m now more open to the opportunity.”

When asked why she nominated Tina as advocate of the month, Tina’s supervisor Nikki says, “Tina has gone above and beyond in her very first CASA match. Although the case was expected to be short term, circumstances changed, and the girls were moved out of the county, Tina immediately said she wanted to stay matched and make the monthly trips to continue supporting them. Tina’s persistence and compassion have truly shined through during this transition. When the grandmother was initially hesitant about the CASA program, Tina patiently and respectfully earned her trust over time.”

A Positive Spirit and Ongoing Commitment

Tina says, “I think of Dolly Parton’s quote, ‘If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.’ I start each day with a positive quote and I'm always talking to my friends and telling them, ‘You could totally do this!’ You have to love what you do, You’ve got to be open-minded and you have to come from a place where this is your passion. I knew I wanted to be part of the foster care system in some capacity and this is the way for me to do that. I might also be interested in helping CASA find family members for children down the road once I’m retired for good!”

Learn More

If you’d like to learn more about how to support youth in the foster care system or, if you are a current CASA and wish to learn more about joining Men of CASA or Comunidad, please contact Norma Mendoza to learn more.