Spinners at last year's CASA fundraiser at Gold's Gym in Fredericksburg are (from left) Von Lavender, Nancy Pcsolyar, Terri Brown and Catesby Payne. View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

'CASA' means 'friend' to children in need

We want every child to be safe

By HUGH MUIR

Date published: 2/21/2010

By HUGH MUIR

When a family dispute goes to court--because of parental violence or abuse, a divorce or custody dispute, child-support needs or foster care--the children involved often need an advocate of their own, a friend in court.

This friend often comes from the national Court Appointed Special Advocates program, known as CASA. The court works with a lawyer specializing in family matters, and assigns a trained CASA volunteer who works directly with the child. The advocate stays with a case until it is resolved.

"We want every child to be safe," said Jill Payne, executive director of Rappahannock CASA.

Rappahannock CASA serves the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George and the city of Fredericksburg.

The region is served by 70 CASA volunteers, who include retirees, former teachers, law students interested in social work, and stay-at-home mothers.

While 85 percent of the volunteers also work full time, most have flexible job schedules.

There are more than 68,000 CASA volunteers nationwide.

"These unpaid paraprofessionals do much of the legwork for the attorneys in a case," said Stacey Strentz, a local lawyer with a firm that specializes in family law who has served on the local CASA board for 15 years. "They directly interact with the child and the family and the court. They usually handle one family case at a time."

To prepare a recommendation for the court--in Virginia, that is the district Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court--a CASA volunteer talks with the child, the parents and family, social workers, school officials, health providers and others who know the child. The volunteer also reviews all the child's records.

At present, Rappahannock CASA works with about 250 children. An individual case can take a year to 16 months.

When volunteers sign on, they commit to a minimum of a year. Their average length of service with CASA is nearly three years. Two have served up to 10 years. The turnover is 24 volunteers a year.

"This can be very stressful work," Payne said. "It is, you might say, volunteerism on steroids."

But the results are quickly apparent.

"You get a chance to change a child's immediate situation," she said. "And I've never had any volunteer quit on the spot."

On one hand, the value of the volunteers is inestimable, Payne said.

On the other hand, the state has set a record-keeping value of $19.72 an hour.

Rappahannock's 70 local volunteers worked 12,595 free hours during the last fiscal year, providing the region with services valued at $248,373.

This is a third more than CASA's annual cash budget here of $180,000.

rappcasa.com

Hugh Muir: 540/735-1975
Email: hmuir@freelancestar.com

Volunteer recruitment is ongoing, with training programs of 36 hours each four times a year, primarily teaching how the court system works with children. The next local six-day course is March, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23 and 30. Sessions are 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For details, call the CASA office, 540/710-6199.

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Date published: 2/21/2010