Meet Staff Member Ebony Dycus

I started with Child Advocates by assisting with a pilot program called Fostering Youth Connections created by Child Advocates in 2009. I was working on this program when I graduated high school and moved on to college. During summer break I emailed Executive Director Cindy Booth and asked if I could intern assisting with anything the office might need help with. I interned in summer of 2011 and 2012 at Child Advocates. At that point I decided I wasn’t going back to Indiana State, I was going to stay in Indianapolis.

After my decision to stay in Indianapolis, I spoke with Cindy about staying at Child Advocates and being support staff. Cindy agreed and I have been working as a support staff since 2012. My current title is data specialist. I work mainly on initial cases that come in. I assign these cases to advocates and do all the paperwork for new cases that come into the system. I work and assign the new cases in our online databases (quest and optima) which are used by all of the staff advocates and volunteers. I also fill in as receptionist when needed. My duties also include filing, organizing, scheduling for advocates as needed.

An additional 25% of my time is dedicated to the youth advocate program. This program gets kids involved with mentors provided by Child Advocates. This programs pairs seniors from high school who are in good academic standing and meet once a month with board members to prepare them for the future. In these meeting their mentors help prepare them for college, fill out government forms, practice financial responsibility and develop leadership skills they will use in their adult lives.

When I was growing up, I had GAL (Child Advocate) who advocated for my best interest. I liked that they actually listened to my voice and heard what I was saying. It was this interaction that brought me to working for this agency. I’ve been working for Child Advocates for almost 4 years now and what I enjoy most about working here is the atmosphere and the people I work with. We’re all a team. We’re all one band with one sound. I also love being part of the foster youth programs. We’re making changes for the better and who wouldn’t enjoy that?