April 28, 2008 Copyright 2008 - KHOU Online Child Advocates needs volunteer By LEIGH FRILLICI / 11 News HOUSTON—The calls are pouring in to the Child Advocates’ office. They’re coming from people wanting to help the kids taken from a West Texas polygamist ranch, some of whom ended up in the Houston area. Child Advocates ran a full page newspaper ad in Houston, asking for volunteers to help not just the polygamist children, but also the thousands of abused kids in Texas who are in the care of the state. “Our advocates go to court and testify on behalf of the child as their guardian ad litem,” Claire Sabatier of Child Advocates, Inc., said. Yen Le is one of those volunteers. “I’ve had to talk to parents, I’ve had to talk to foster parents, therapists, doctors, teachers,” Le said. “You get really involved in the child’s life.” It’s not yet clear which programs will be asked to send volunteers to help the polygamist kids, but Houston children still need all the help they can get. “We’ve got 4,800 children here who need a child advocate who are abused and neglected,” Le said. And there are only 500 volunteers. Most of the people who’ve called say they just want to help kids. Period. It’s an experience Le says they’ll never forget. “To know I’ve been a part of that part of these children’s lives, honestly, they’ve touched my life more than I’ve touched them,” Le said.