Fannin County Children's Center CASA Honored

Local CASA Program Receives Statewide Recognition

“Every day, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates^®) volunteers save lives and last year the Fannin County Children’s Center made sure that happened in Fannin County by serving every child in the foster care system,” said Texas CASA Director of Program Services Cathy Cockerham.

The Children’s Center was recently recognized by Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for serving 100 percent of the children in the foster care system with all volunteers in Fannin County. The Children’s Center served 44 children in Fiscal Year 2011.

“No child should ever have to navigate the child welfare system without the benefit of CASA advocacy,” said Cockerham. That level of service is not the same across the state; half of the 43,000 children in foster care do not have CASA volunteers to speak up for children in foster care, Cockerham said. Only 22,020 children were served by CASA programs and 7,046 CASA volunteers.

“Only serving half the children in care is unacceptable. It is not enough and we must do more as a state. We are we are proud that the Children’s Center is leading the way in achieving our statewide goal of having a CASA volunteer for every child who needs one,” said Cockerham.

Texas CASA is a network of 69 local CASA programs serving children in 208 Texas counties. Only six programs in the network achieved the goal of serving every child in care with a volunteer.

“The Children’s Center wants to have a CASA volunteer for every child in the state’s custody,” said Executive Director Sandy Barber. “We believe it is very important to ensure that a child’s voice is heard in the courts. Our ability to serve every child is a reflection of the priority that people and businesses in our community place on ensuring that children have the opportunity to grow up in safe, loving homes.”

“However, the need for volunteers never ends. Children move in and out of the system and sometimes CASA volunteers are unable to continue volunteering because of changes in their personal lives,” said Barber. “For that reason, we continue to need more CASA volunteers so that children’s voices can be heard in the courts.”

Children who have CASA volunteers typically spend a shorter time in the foster care system and get the services they need to begin to heal, Barber said. “CASA volunteers are regular people who have chosen to speak up for abused and neglected children in their community,” she said.

CASA volunteers are screened and trained and appointed by the court to advocate for the best interests of a child. Because the foster care system is so overburdened and underfunded, often the CASA volunteer is the one constant in a child’s life while he or she goes through the foster care system. CASA volunteers work to move the children through foster care and into safe permanent homes as quickly as possible. CASA is one of several programs operated by the Children’s Center for the benefit of abused and neglected children.