Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Director Corina Sanchez is hopeful the program could see a larger number of volunteers jump on board in the very near future as the need for their services continues to be great.
CASAs are local residents who volunteer their time to advocate on behalf of local children who are currently making their way through the foster care system. Sanchez says local residents currently have the opportunity to get involved with the program as the latest round of CASA training is coming up next month.
The training will begin on June 5 and comes at a time when volunteer numbers are down slightly with just a little more than 30 volunteers currently active and more than a hundred children in need of their services. With that in mind, and considering the fact that CASAs can only take on a single case at a time, there are many children currently going through the court process without an advocate in their corner.
On a positive note, Sanchez says they do manage to recruit new volunteers on an annual basis, however, the problem is that many of those new volunteers are simply taking the place of past volunteers.
For those who may be interested in learning more about the program before signing on, Sanchez says they will be hosting a recognition and recruitment event for that purpose next month.
Full details are still pending, however, Sanchez says the event is currently slotted for June 21. For more information on CASA or how you can get involved visit SOSKansas.com or contact SOS by calling 800-825-1295.
