24 Apr CASA of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties Receives a $25,000 Grant from the John W. Speas & Effie E. Speas Memorial Trust

CASA of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties recently received a grant for $25,000 from the John W. Speas & Effie E. Speas Memorial Trust to support CASA’s recruitment, training, and supervision of more volunteer advocates to identify victims’ needs, advocate for appropriate services for the children, and inform the courts regarding identifying a safe, permanent home. This year, CASA will focus on addressing our program’s quality assurance components by improving data collection and program evaluation, with special emphasis on Teen Advocacy services. Teen Advocacy is tailored to address the unique needs of older youth in foster care. Volunteers serve as advocates and mentors to help teens attain critical life skills as they prepare for independent living.

CASA’s child advocacy services exist to address the unmet needs of abused children, ages 0-19, who have been removed from their homes into a complex, overburdened foster care system. Children are faced with rapid turnover of cases workers, multiple foster placements, frequent school changes, and inconsistent access to mental health care. CASA addresses these needs by providing one constant advocate, matched with the child(ren) through the life of the case. CASA volunteers spend more time with a child than any other state or court worker, and are best positioned to provide accurate and relevant information regarding the child’s needs. Without CASA, judges may be unaware of a child’s special and/or mental health needs, of the child feeling endangered in the home, or of other concerns. CASA’s advocates identify these concerns, and advocate for the child’s best interests.

CASA addresses the diverse needs of children who have been seriously abused or neglected, requiring their removal into foster care. Our goals: to keep children safe from further physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse and neglect; to ensure they receive all needed services; and to help them achieve permanency in a safe and stable home as quickly as possible. CASA plays a unique, unduplicated role by training and directing volunteer advocates to deliver long-term advocacy from the time of case assignment throughout the duration of the child’s court involvement. No other agency operates with the court’s authority to deliver similar services. CASA advocates are often assigned to very challenging cases involving severe abuse and trauma, very young victims, or children exposed to multiple victimization’s. CASA of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties (CASA) was established in 1985 to serve children in the Johnson County and expanded its services to Wyandotte County in 2005.