Court Appointed Special Advocates(CASA) for children is gearing up for their next volunteer training.
Thursday, CASA hosted their fall orientation for prospective volunteers. Currently, CASA has 90 volunteers. Advocate Coordinator Sara Heitmeyer said this fall class is larger than usual which makes her hopeful to hit 100 volunteers with the fall class. Volunteers will go through 35 hours of training and learn things like cultural humility, how to interview children and the court process. CASA relies primarily on volunteers as advocates.
"We're on track this year to turn down 150 children that CASA is not able to serve. So those kids will not have a voice through the CASA program and the court process when they've been abused or neglected. Their voice will not be heard through a CASA volunteer," said Heitmeyer.
There is still time to volunteer. If interested, call CASA at 940-2272.
