It was cause for celebration in the courtroom of Judge Alan Lemons as six new CASA volunteers were sworn in to help advocate for the children of Scioto County. That makes a total of 44 CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) available to work on behalf of the over 350 children currently in foster care in the county.
Volunteers must take 32 hours of training before their swearing-in. Once assigned to a case in Juvenile Court, they can expect to spend between 8 and 10 hours a month assisting the child involved in the case. The average length of a case is two years. CASA volunteers function as Guardians ad litem for children during cases.
That means they are there to advocate just for the interest of the children involved in a custody, abuse, or neglect case. CASA volunteers are assigned to stay with one child or group of children in the same family for the whole case, so the child has consistency during what can be a very confusing time.
County Overwhelmed
Judge Lemons said these volunteers are essential since the county is losing attorneys who take court appointments. “We’re getting squeezed, we’re running out of attorneys. Guardians ad litem were traditionally attorneys. The CASAs are awesome. So far, it’s all been great.”
Judge Lemons said, “You all will be very focused on one family, one group. We do a lot of custody cases here. We are overwhelmed at times. You will not be overwhelmed, but you will see how overwhelmed we are.”
The judge had some words of wisdom for the volunteers. He told them not to allow aggressive attorneys to intimidate them during testimony. “You’ll know more about the family that they will. Just hold your own. Raise your hand or look at me if you’re uncomfortable. I’ll make sure you’re no longer uncomfortable.”
Judge Lemon said around 80% of the cases involved parental drug addiction. “A lot of those cases the parents just come in and admit it. Some of those hearings just go by quietly. Where it becomes hard is when the parents start getting better. Then the decision is when do we return to the parents, if we do? That’s where your hard work comes in.”
More Volunteers Needed
Speaking after the ceremony, Courtney Resier, Executive Director of the Scioto County CASA program said, “We don’t have enough volunteers to serve all of the cases, so we prioritize based on the needs of the case. Our goal for the program is to have enough volunteers for every case.” Resier said the agency is only able to serve about 25% of the current caseload.
Volunteer training will start again in April. You can learn more about the training and apply to volunteer at https://www.sciotocasa.org/
Resier said no prior experience is needed to join the CASA program. Volunteers must be 21, complete the 32-hour training course, and pass a background check.
Reiser said the CASA program is in the process of establishing a non-profit that will allow it to accept donations and apply for grants to fund its services. She said the money will be used to assist children in kinship care and train more people.
Anyone interested in joining the fundraising board for that organization can apply at the agency’s website.
