So what is CASA?
It’s short for “Court Appointed Special Advocates.”
My concept of what is does is keep track of children who are in the court system.
Think DCFS.
The Department of Children and Family Services.
There’s a lot of turnover because of the difficulty of the job.
From long experience I know that DCFS can make monumental mistakes.
Think of a Crystal Lake girl dying in a fire chained to her bed 30 days after DCFS was notified there was a problem.
Now, that 1970’s example would not have had a CASA volunteer because it never made it to court.
CASA in McHenry County operates with no government resources and is the only CASA in the state that receives nothing in support from their county government.
But, it does convince me that DCFS deserves watching.
Here is the press release about the event:
4th ANNUAL LITTLE BLACK DRESS TO RAISE MONEY TO GIVE A VOICE TO ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN IN MCHENRY COUNTY
Woodstock, Ill. Feb. 9th , 2016– Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of McHenry County will host the 4th annual Little Black Dress fundraiser on Thursday, Feb. 18th at Bull Valley Gold Club in Woodstock, IL. Proceeds generated from the event will aid CASA in its mission to provide a trained, committed advocate to every abused and neglected child in the McHenry County juvenile abuse court system.
Put on your favorite Little Black Dress, enjoy a ladies night out with your best girlfriends and be out and about to celebrate national drink wine day. Don’t miss out. Your ticket includes admission to the event, a drink ticket and a special wine charm to commemorate the 4thannual event which also features music, wine, raffles silent auction and chocolate too.
Tickets are now on sale at http://www.casamchenrycounty.org/#!littleblackdress/c1a97. Admission is $50 in advance, $60 at the door. For more information, visit www.casamchenrycounty.org.
About CASA of McHenry County
CASA of McHenry County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a voice in court for abused and neglected children in McHenry County. Since its founding in 2005, over 200 trained CASA volunteer advocates have assisted more than 425 children. CASA of McHenry County receives no government funding; support from local businesses, individuals and foundations ensures that CASA continues to grow so that every child in McHenry County’s juvenile abuse court system has his or her own advocate.
They act as advocates for the children in the court system.
Often times kids are alone and don’t understand the court system.
Other times parents are fighting over the children.
The CASA person’s job is to represent their assigned child to the court system/judge/lawyers.
This also provides the child with some reassurances as they know they have at least one person they can count on.
As this is NOT a government run/involved organization.
It works well.
It’s motivations are truly for the child.
It is a worthwhile group.
Thanks for the elaboration.
Kids in the juvenile court due to abuse or neglect- by NO cause of their own.
The are the voice of the child-
DCFS was originally designed to be a support to families..
That is no longer the case..
They are at times an unregulated punitive organization that causes more harm than good.
They no longer provide supports to families in trauma or hardship but instead bring even more abuse of the family.
We need to re visit the role of DCFS and redirect their mission back to supporting families and children and not prosecuting them because they do not have a check and balance system with enough oversight.
When DCFS harms families they are also harming children..
Its a serious problem in Illinois and elsewhere.
CASA seems like a good and much needed system.