CASA

Annette Craycraft, Executive Director of East Central Indiana CASA, spoke to Kiwanis about the children served by CASA volunteers.   CASA is an abbreviation for Court Appointed Special Advocates.  It is a not for profit, 501c3 organization that was started in Indiana about 1988 following a successful start in Seattle, Washington in 1976.  The agency serves children who have been abused or neglected and are under court supervision.  It does work with juvenile delinquents.

CASA serves Madison, Henry and Hancock counties.  The main office is in Anderson and a satellite office is in the Memorial Building in Greenfield.  The rate of poverty in a community is an indicator of the number of cases that might be seen.  The state average for the poverty rate is about 14%, Madison County is about 26%, and Hancock County is below the state average with 6.3%.

Volunteers are expected to stay with a child for the life of the child’s court case.  The length of a typical case may be 12 to 13 months.  Each volunteer is expected to visit their assigned child at least once per month.  The volunteer may need to spend more time at the beginning of the case.  A maximum of 3 cases is allowed.

Volunteers must undergo an extensive background check and interview process before attending training classes.  The next training session is February 28 in Greenfield.  If you are interested in volunteering or have questions visit www.eastcentralcasa.org or email eastcentralcasa@yahoo.com .