CASA of Marshall County has just been awarded certification by the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association. This certification recognizes that CASA of Marshall County is in compliance with National CASA’s high standards for quality child advocacy.
According to Michael Piraino, CEO of the National CASA Association, “The National CASA quality assurance process is very rigorous, and reflects our commitment to ensure every child we serve has the most powerful volunteer advocate working on their behalf. This certification says CASA of Marshall County has demonstrated to us a strong capacity to provide excellent services to the abused and neglected children within their community.”
CASA of Marshall County started in 2001. In 2013, there were over 80 children in the county identified by the court system as abused or neglected. There are over 40 volunteers in this county, and more are needed. CASA of Marshall County trains volunteers twice a year. The next training class will begin September 9th and will go through October 16th. The training curriculum is developed by the National CASA Association, and can be used by programs that fulfill the requirements for national certification. The training is 33 hours long over a course of 11 sessions. Trainings will be Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:00pm-9:00 pm at the Life Enrichment Center in Plymouth. For more information on becoming a volunteer advocate, please contact Haley Kittrell at (574) 952-1443 or haleyk@co.marshall.in.us. You can also visit our website at www.marshallcountycasa.org or visit us on Facebook “CASA of Marshall County”.
About the National CASA Association
In 1976, concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children’s lives without sufficient information, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court, helping to ensure that they will live in a safe and loving environment. So successful was this Seattle program, that soon judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates. In 1990, the U.S. Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA/GAL with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Today, there are more than 950 National CASA member programs across the country, with more than 70,000 men and women serving as CASA or Guardian ad Litem volunteers.
