Circuit Court Swears in Record Number Child Advocates for CASA of Jefferson County
CASA of Jefferson County is proud to announce the recent class of Court Appointed Special Advocates has provided fourteen new community members to be the voices for children who have recently entered the child welfare system, and assigned to the program.
In the last quarter of 2023, Child In Need of Services (CHINS) increased substantially. This created a waitlist of children for the program for the first time in 4 years. Because of this increased need, executive director, Whitney Roberts announced that she would be planning the largest awareness campaign since her tenure. Roberts shares, “We couldn’t keep up with the number of children who were entering the system at a rapid pace. For years our program was able to serve every child, so when the filings of abuse and neglect cases started overburdening our system - I knew I had to revert to processes that we used in 2017, when our waitlist exceeded 250 children. Thankfully that is not the case now, but one child waiting is too many. I had to press pause on a lot of projects and focus soley on providing a voice for these children waiting for an advocate.”
In November, Roberts and program manager, Kimberly Courtney developed a plan to increase awareness for the dire need of more community members to join their organization. Courtney stated, “We had several meetings with all of our volunteers and let them know what was happening in our community, and the amount of children waiting in addition to the extreme cases of maltreatment our children just faced. Because of those meetings, 13 children were able to be assigned to existing volunteers, but we needed more advocates in order to make any substantial decrease in the amount of children still waiting.”
By February, with help from Roberts’ awareness campaign, Courtney had secured 14 community members to join the CASA mission. “This large of a class is by far one of the most proudest moments in my career at CASA of Jefferson County. They heard the call, and they are here now. I am forever grateful for all of our CASA volunteers.”
CASA of Jefferson County would like to thank Ivy Tech Community College, SuperATV, Veteran CASA & PCA Board Member Marla Arnold, and Veteran CASA volunteer Joy Hamilton for sponsoring CASA Training 2024, Dr. Linda Zapp, Board President, Letha Harding Board Member, and staff Kimberly Courtney, Jessica Brawner, Brenda Holbrook, and Michelle Zimmermann for organizing the cirriculum and logistics. Also, many thanks to Judge Mote for hearing our advocates, and valuing their work inside and outside of the courtroom. “It takes a army to do this work, and our army is strong. Thank you all and job well done, everyone!” Roberts.
