Dear Friends of Children:
We know how much you care about the abused and neglected children in our community – children like:
*eleven-year-old RJ and her eight-year-old sibling. After one parent abandoned them , they suffered years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by the other parent, including threats to shoot them. Relatives who knew about their plight did not step in to protect them.
Thankfully, when their situation became known, Court Advocates for Children made sure that one of its highly trained and experienced volunteer court-appointed special advocates (CASA) was assigned to represent their best interests. Her advocacy prevented the girls’ placement with someone who was pressuring them to recant their statements about the abuse they had suffered. When it appeared that a shortage of foster homes and a lack of suitable relatives would necessitate separating the siblings, the CASA persuaded a local couple to become licensed as foster parents so that they could remain together and continue to attend school in their own community.
*Seven-year-old LP and his younger sibling. Their parent frequently confined them to a filthy bedroom without beds, toys, books, or pictures, often “forgetting” to feed them and ignoring their medical needs. LP had several decaying, infected teeth that threatened to poison his entire body. One of his siblings sustained a perforated eardrum from an untreated ear infection. All of them were regularly exposed to domestic violence in their home. As a result, the children suffered substantial delays in their emotional, social and educational development and also exhibited severe behavior problems.
Their CASA was able to speak up for the children in court, insuring that
they were placed in therapeutic homes where they received the love, nurture,
medical care, therapy and educational services they so desperately needed.
We thank all of you for your past support. In 2007 and 2008, you enabled our
CASAs to represent a total of 169 abused and neglected children in Kittitas
County.
Unfortunately, the number of children needing CASAs continues to grow at an
alarming rate. In the past few years, our caseload has tripled, significantly
increasing the cost of serving the abused and neglected children in this county.
Currently, it costs about $1293 per child per year to serve the children on
our caseload.
To continue safeguarding these children, as we have for nearly 24 years, Court
Advocates for Children for Kittitas County must recruit, manage, train and
support its volunteers by providing:
• A 30-hour initial training course to qualify individuals as CASAs;
• Continuing education on a multitude of topics, including educational
and cultural needs of children, chemical dependency, mental health, domestic
violence, report writing, and legal updates;
• Sufficient staff and technology to provide on-going support, consultation
and supervision, especially when cases become particularly complicated and
difficult;
• Reimbursement to volunteers for travel and long distance telephone
calls so that they can maintain regular contact with the children they represent.
Your renewed support will help us sustain the work of our CASAs. A contribution
of $107.75 would pay the cost of representing one child for a month; $75 would
defray the cost of reimbursement for one volunteer’s out-of-pocket travel
and telephone expenses during the year; $1293 would pay for the cost of representing
one child for a year; $60 would pay the average annual training expenses for
one volunteer; $130 would pay one volunteer’s registration at the annual
state CASA conference.
Your past support has kept dozens of children safe from harm. Please make
or renew your commitment to the vulnerable children in our community by making
a tax-deductible gift to Court Advocates for Children today. Simply mail your
check to:
Court Advocates for Children
421 N. Pearl St. #208
Ellensburg, WA 98926
Or, you can make a safe, secure donation using PayPal. Just click the button below:
Thank you for your support.100% of donations made to Kittitas County CASA stay right here in Kittitas County!
