We invite you to meet Roger Macauley. Roger took his first case in 2010 and served 11 children on six child welfare cases before taking a leave of absence in 2018. We were thrilled when he returned in 2025 to volunteer as an Advocate again. He quickly took his first case, serving two young brothers in foster care.

Advocacy Specialist Vanessa Temporetti said that Roger is one of the most reliable and detail-oriented Advocates she has worked with on a case.

“Roger is the best,” Vanessa said. “When he is assigned to a case, we know it will be handled professionally with great care. He sets the gold standard of advocacy.”

We asked Roger to share about his experiences as an Advocate. 

Tell us about your background.

We’ve lived in this area for about 30 years. I worked for an oil company. I retired in 2000, so I’ve been retired for about 25 years now.

What sparked your interest in volunteering as an Advocate?

When I retired, I wanted to try to do a little bit of volunteer work. I’d done some tutoring with kids for SAT preparation and math. I really enjoyed it and it helped.  I got into Big Brothers [Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America] for about two to three years, and that worked really well. I’d just finished working with one boy and his family had moved out of state. I was looking for another opportunity with Big Brothers, and CASA popped up on a Google search. I’d never heard of it, so I read about it. The kids involved with Big Brothers are usually in relatively good situations other than their dad isn’t present for whatever reason. With Child Advocates, it’s not that way. The kids we serve are really dealt a tough hand. It struck a chord—this might work where I can make a difference in helping sort some things out for kids.

Did you have any reservations about volunteering as an Advocate? If so, what helped you move past them?

I don’t think so, other than I knew—and certainly they covered in the training—that you’re liable to run into some pretty rough situations for what these kids have been going through. So I was a little apprehensive on what you’re going to see. Other than that, you just say, “I’m going to step into it, and I think I can handle it.” And you just do it.

In your own words, explain the role of an Advocate and why this work is so important for a child in care.

There’s a lot of different people involved in these cases, and they’ve all got their own perspective of what they’re supposed to be doing. CPS has their rules and procedures. The various attorneys have their roles. And the Advocate works with them all to look out for the welfare of the child, what’s in their best interest.

What has surprised you most about your experience as an Advocate?

Working with older children is much more challenging than I thought it would be. They have a voice and a will, and they don’t always make the best decisions. That can be surprising and disappointing. You can see a clear path for what you think should have been a relatively easy thing to do, and they do things to knock things off the rail a bit.

What has been the most challenging and the most rewarding part of advocacy work?

I find it rewarding and challenging to develop those good working relationships with all the other parties involved—CPS, the attorneys. Together, you can cover a lot of ground and work together to help a child.

What do you wish the community better understood about children in crisis?

I don’t think people understand how many kids are in bad situations. I live in an area of Montgomery County with a degree of affluence and a good life. For people in that situation, you tend not to look too far beyond that to figure out what’s going on. And there’s a lot of kids in bad situations.

Through volunteering, what have you learned about children and families in crisis?

When I was first involved, we didn’t have any grandkids. The reason I had to take a break for a few years there was because we suddenly went from zero to six grandkids. Many of them lived in our area and that was taking up all our time. One of the things volunteering has taught me is just the realization of how blessed our grandkids are to have the parents they have. I know they take it for granted, but they really are fortunate. To be able to participate in their lives, especially with that perspective, makes it more rewarding.

Anything else you want to share about Child Advocates?

It’s very rewarding. It obviously takes some time to do it. But in terms of doing something worthwhile and doing something for someone besides yourself, it fills the bill very well.