Eleven new advocates ready to speak up for kids!
June 21, 2022 (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Eleven new Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA volunteers, were sworn in as officers of the court during a CASA of the Pikes Peak Region swearing-in ceremony at the El Paso County Courthouse on Tuesday. Fourth Judicial District Judge William Bain presided over the ceremony.
The purpose of the CASA volunteer is to advocate for the best interest of abused or neglected children in court and in the community, and to be a steady and trusted presence for these kids who – due to no fault of their own – must navigate the child welfare system.
CASA would like to remind the community that more volunteers are needed. In a twelve-month period, there are about 900 children just in the Pikes Peak Region who need a CASA volunteer. If you or anyone you know is interested in changing the life of a child in this capacity, you are encouraged to visit casappr.org/volunteer and sign up for an upcoming Volunteer Information Hour. Sessions are currently available on June 29th and July 20th.
Anyone who decides to take the next step after attending an information hour would fill out a volunteer application, complete a volunteer interview, complete 30 hours of training over a two-week period, and finally be sworn in as an officer of the court.
Congratulations and THANK YOU to the newest CASA Volunteers: Laura Boschert, Craig Cox, Julie Dismang, Jessica Evans, Melinda Breen-Nelson, Wesley Nelson, Jamie Rogers, Jessica Shepherd, Kyle Simmons, Kaiya Tang, and Sheila Thomas. These eleven volunteers will be appointed to open Dependency & Neglect cases by a judge this summer.
Special note: Want to help the CASA mission but don’t have time to volunteer? Sign this petition to help Colorado drivers get a CASA license plate!
About CASA of the Pikes Peak Region
CASA of the Pikes Peak Region is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1989 as a local program of the National CASA Association. Serving El Paso and Teller Counties, the organization’s core mission is to recruit, train, and support citizen volunteers in its Dependency & Neglect program to provide a voice and advocate for victims of child abuse and neglect. The nonprofit also operates a Supervised Exchange & Parenting Time (SEPT) program, Milton Foster Children’s Fund (MFCF) & the Hanger, and Children & Families in Transition. With 340 volunteers who put in roughly 14,000 hours in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region provided advocates for 600 children and served a total of 1,340 children in three programs. For more information, visit www.casappr.org.