Ten New CASA Volunteers Begin Advocating for Abused Children
November 19, 2020 (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Ten community volunteers were sworn in as officers of the court by El Paso County Magistrate Dennis McGuire during a CASA of the Pikes Peak Region swearing-in ceremony over Zoom on Thursday.
The swearing-in ceremony which took place today was the final step for the volunteers who recently completed a five-week online training course covering topics like trauma, resiliency, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and the role of the CASA volunteer.
These community advocates will now begin the important work of advocating for abused and neglected children in the Pikes Peak Region during their time in the child welfare system. Each volunteer will be assigned by a judge to an open Dependency & Neglect case so that they may speak up for the child on that case and ensure that the child’s best interest remains front and center during court proceedings.
Congratulations new advocates Emily Cohen, Linda Dickson, Erica Haugen, Peggy Kemp, Julie Matalus, Cara McQueeny, Michael Mersman, Clarissa Rogers, Alexandria Sheer, and Michelle Simpson.
The number of children coming into CASA’s program has doubled since the pandemic began, and more community volunteers are needed to ensure that these children are placed in safe and permanent homes as quickly as possible.
CASA’s next training class begins in mid-January and community members who are interested in becoming CASA volunteers should attend one of two upcoming information sessions, both taking place over Zoom:
- Virtual Information Session on Dec. 2 at 2:00 PM
- Virtual Information Session on Jan. 11 at 3:00 PM
People can go here to sign up for an info session: https://www.casappr.org/volunteer/