03/18/13 Haley Kittrell, the new Director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Marshall County recently traveled to Indianapolis to join over 300 CASA volunteers and directors from all over the state for a CASA Rally at the Statehouse.  Kittrell took CASA volunteers Aimee Ellinger and Jordan McIntire to the event with her. 

 

  During the rally they heard speakers including juvenile court judges and the State CASA Director, Leslie Dunn.  They learned that Governor Pence’s mother was a CASA volunteer, and the three representatives from Marshall County were able to meet Governor Pence as well as State Representative, Tim Harman. 

 

All the CASA volunteers wore red shirts with the message “I am CASA, and I am FOR THE CHILD”.  This was a very exciting time for CASAs in Indiana, and Kittrell wanted to recognize her volunteers for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend the rally. 

 

CASA volunteers devoted over 1038 hours helping the abused/neglected children in Marshall County last year alone.   In Marshall County, there 72 children at the end of November of 2012 identified as abused or neglected, and CASA was able to serve as advocates for 52 of them.  CASA of Marshall County is in desperate need of volunteers. 

 

For questions or for those interested in learning how to become a volunteer contact Executive Director Haley Kittrell at P.O. Box 373 or call 935-8723.  You can also check out their website at http://www.marshallcountycasa.org/ 

 

The State CASA program has also provided some statistics if you are interested:

 

·         Children in 73 of Indiana’s 92 counties were served by organized volunteer GAL/CASA programs in 2012, and those programs were staffed by 139 full-time, and 105 part-time employees statewide

  • 3,466 GAL/CASA volunteers advocated for abused and neglected children
  • GAL/CASA programs recruited and trained 924 new volunteers in 2012
  • GAL/CASA volunteers provided a voice for 16,355 children in abuse/neglect cases and 2,344 children in termination of parental rights cases in 2012 (a total of 18,699 appointments of CASA volunteers) and made 155,210 contacts with those children
  • Volunteers donated 332,733  hours advocating for Indiana’s abused and neglected children, and saved the State of Indiana over $16.6  million in 2012
  • At the beginning of 2012,  there were 2,350 children waiting for an advocate to be assigned to them; at the beginning of 2013, there were 2,344 children waiting for an advocate to be assigned to them