Officials said the CASA chapter of the Gateway region is propelling forward smoothly in its first few months of service.
The organization, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, serves hundreds of kids in 21 chapters statewide. CASA pairs volunteers with children amid child abuse cases to give them a voice. Since March, CASA of Gateway has appointed and sworn in ten active volunteers, along with adding new executive and intern positions.
Beth Ellis, Executive Director of CASA of Gateway, said efforts have been very successful so far in Rowan County. She said in the next six months, the group hopes to expand its reach throughout the Gateway service region, which also includes Bath, Montgomery, and Menifee counties.
“Rowan County and Montgomery County, just based on population alone, we have more people and therefore we have more child abuse petitions that are filed. But, we have Bath County and Menifee County, that we desperately need people to also advocate for children in those areas,” said Ellis.
Ellis said potential volunteers should not be discouraged by the program’s involvement with the legal system, and that a compassionate heart is much more important.
“I always tell people, if you don’t know anything about the court system or child welfare, that’s okay. We train you on that. What we want are people that are interested in helping kids, and so I always tell everybody, anybody can be a volunteer, we will train you with that.”
Officials said the organization recently completed its first round of training and is ready to welcome more volunteers.
Potential volunteers must be 21 years or older. They undergo 30 hours of comprehensive training from CASA before taking an oath of confidentiality and officially being sworn in as special advocates. The next training will take place over three weeks starting on August 19. More information is available here.