Tiburon man advocates for youth, the unhoused in volunteer roles

Longtime Tiburon resident Jim Snipes has been volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate with Marin CASA for about eight years, supporting youth in the foster-care and juvenile-justice systems. Snipes, a retired lawyer, also serves on the board of Homeward Bound of Marin, which provides shelter and services to the county’s unhoused population. (Clara Lu / For The Ark)

Jim Snipes first learned about court-appointed special advocates, volunteers who work to support youth in the foster-care system, during a lunchtime presentation at his San Francisco law firm.

He recalls being struck by some of the statistics shared about the risks facing foster youth, including a higher likelihood of ending up unhoused. Court-appointed special advocates, or CASAs, work to change those outcomes by speaking up for the best interests of youth in the courtroom and as the kids move through the child-welfare system.

At the time, Snipes was winding down his three-decade legal career and was looking for ways to get more involved in the community as he entered retirement.

“I thought, ‘This sounds like a great prospect,’“ he recalls.

Snipes, 72, is now in his eighth year volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate with Marin CASA. In his role, the Tiburon resident is assigned to one or two youth in the foster-care or juvenile-justice systems at a time and works to establish a relationship with them, advocating for their fundamental medical, educational and mental-health needs.

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