Fourteen new advocates sworn in by Magistrate Pearson

Fourteen new Court Appointed Special Advocates (or CASA volunteers) were sworn in by Magistrate Pearson at the El Paso County Courthouse on Monday.

New CASA volunteers take 30 hours of training which covers topics like trauma, resiliency, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence. During training, they also make court observations and learn how to create court reports. The final step is to take an oath before a judge or magistrate and become an officer of the court.

These new CASA volunteers will now be assigned to an open Dependency & Neglect case within the 4th Judicial District and will advocate for the best interest of children who are involved in the family court and child welfare systems because of abuse or neglect.

Congratulations new advocates Lea Chapman, Sasha Christensen, Brittany Hampton, Tom Havens, Eric Johnson, Vittoria Juarez, Brynn Kuykendall, Susan Lynch, Hazel McCaslan, Carla Moore, Jenny Nihill, Mark Norton, Kate O’Connell, and Kimberly Rigler!

Anyone who wants to make a difference for a child in this capacity can learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer at one of these upcoming Volunteer Orientations:

  • Dudes & Brews Male Volunteer Orientation from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at Goat Patch Brewing in Monument on March 12th
  • Virtual Volunteer Orientation from 10:00 – 11:00 AM on March 14th
  • Volunteer Orientation with dinner at CASA office on March 19th from 5:30 – 6:30 PM
  • Virtual Volunteer Orientation from 6:00 – 7:00 PM on March 26th
  • Teller County Volunteer Orientation at the Woodland Park Public Library from 12:00 – 1:00 PM on March 31st.

Learn more and RSVP to an orientation here: www.casappr.org/volunteer.