We continue with the fourth spotlight in our series on individuals whose personal and professional trajectory was influenced by their CASA involvement.
In this issue, we spotlight Chief Justice David E. Nahmias of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Chief Justice Nahmias was elected to the Supreme Court in 2010 and 2016, following his appointment by Governor Perdue in 2009. This past year, he was unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Justice following the departure of Chief Justice Harold D. Melton. Chief Justice Nahmias also now serves as the Chair of the Judicial Council of Georgia, which establishes policy for the judiciary in the state, and for the past four years he has served as Chair of the Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Justice for Children (J4C). The J4C administers a federal grant allocated to Georgia to improve outcomes in juvenile court dependency cases and to improve the state’s child welfare system. The Chief Justice notes that his J4C work is usually at the ‘big picture’ and ‘cheerleader’ levels, whereas many other individuals, such as those with the CASA organization and other child welfare groups, are on the front lines doing the day-to-day work with children and families.
Chief Justice Nahmias grew up in DeKalb County, and his father was a prominent pediatric infectious disease expert at Emory University who later became involved in policymaking to improve the health of Georgia’s children. Through his father’s professional career, Chief Justice Nahmias observed the child welfare field from a distance. Then, in the spring of 1989, as a first-year law student at Harvard Law School, he learned about the CASA program. Boston CASA was looking for volunteers, and he thought it seemed like a good way to help children while simultaneously learning about the juvenile court system. He completed the CASA volunteer training and served as a CASA volunteer during his second and third years in law school. This experience, as well as being an adoptive father, would inform his leadership as the Chair of J4C.
Through his CASA experience, he learned that the child welfare system, and the juvenile court process in particular, can be confusing and intimidating for young children whose well-being is supposed to be the focus of the proceedings. He appreciates how useful it is for each child to have an advocate – not just an attorney with a huge caseload. He tries to remember the lessons he learned a as CASA volunteer as the J4C members and policymakers discuss problems and improvements in Georgia’s child welfare system. Recalling recent results from a survey of children in foster care that was conducted by Georgia Appleseed, a nonprofit on whose board of directors he serves, the surveyed youth expressed the same concerns and the same desire to have good advocates.
Chief Justice Nahmias wants CASA volunteers to know their work really matters to the children being served and to the state’s overall child welfare system. The work can be difficult and stressful – because these cases are almost always difficult and stressful – but it is important and can be very rewarding. He encourages advocates to take advantage of trainings, especially in multidisciplinary settings with juvenile court judges, parent and child attorneys, GALs, and DFCS case workers.
When asked about the realities of the child welfare system, Chief Justice Nahmias shared that the system is beginning an important transformation. Stimulated by the federal Family First Prevention Service Act and recognizing the trauma that removal causes, the system is focusing more on efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect by identifying children and families in need and addressing their issues before those issues require removal of the children. Georgia DFCS is at the front end of the work, and the CASA organization’s full engagement and support of the efforts will be beneficial to all.
While there is still plenty of room for improvement, he believes the child welfare system today is much better than it was when he served as a CASA volunteer three decades ago. So much more about trauma and treatment is now known. More decisions are made based on data and measured outcomes instead of anecdotes and hunches. The juvenile courts in Georgia are better funded and staffed by specially trained and better-paid judges. Collectively, we are much better at viewing the system as a whole and engaging in multidisciplinary communication and training. And to top it off, soon there will be CASA programs in all 159 counties and many more CASA volunteers over the years.
When not working or watching his sons’ events, Chief Justice Nahmias enjoys spending time with his fiancée, watching sports of all kinds, staying fit, and reading. Chief Justice Nahmias and his late wife adopted two boys who have grown into wonderful young men – a high school senior who will attend Duke University, his dad’s alma mater, in the fall on a football scholarship and a 10th-grader who is in Air Force JROTC and on the fencing team.
