September 17, 2013
09/18/13 Haley Kittrell, Executive Director CASA of Marshall County recognized one of her outstanding volunteer, Stuart Krynock, who was sworn in during the last training session in April of 2013. Kittrell said, “He is currently advocating on his first case, and he attended the State CASA Conference with me this past weekend.”
Every year, the state CASA directors attend a meeting on a Friday and then volunteers from across the state can come to the conference on Saturday. Mr. Stuart chose to give up a Saturday in order to learn more effective ways for advocating for the abused and or neglected children in our county. Kittrell said, “He was able to attend specialized sessions about meth and heroin, dealing with conflict and tips on advocating effectively.”
The keynote speaker, Charles Appelstein, spoke about his book “No Such Thing as a Bad Kid” and how kids who have been traumatized see the world a little differently.
CASA of Marshall County is currently serving 50 children, and currently has 32 active volunteers. A new training session will begin today, September 17, in which Kittrell will be training 8 new volunteers. Marshall County currently does not have a waiting list for children, although the majority of counties across the state do have a waiting list. The executive director did comment that some volunteers currently have multiple cases in order to ensure that every child who could use an advocate as their case progresses through the court system is able to have one. CASA/GAL/Child Advocates advocated for over 18,000 children in Marshall County in 2012. Court Appointed Special Advocate programs exist in 78 of the state’s 92 counties, and every county is desperately in need of volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering, contact Haley Kittrell at 935-8723 or online at www.marshallcountycasa.org.