Newsletter - Douglas County CASA

THE
CASA BRIEF
A Newsletter for Volunteers, Friends and Supporters of Douglas County CASA
U
Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children
Volume 25, Number 1 - SPRING 2016
Pinwheels Plant Awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness month and members of our CASA program helped
lead local outreach and awareness efforts for child abuse prevention. Several CASA staff members are
pictured above with other members of the Douglas County Child Abuse Prevention Task Force after
planting Pinwheels for Prevention at City Hall on April 2. Joined by the Kids in Action Club,
Strengthening Families staff of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, and others, the group
also planted pinwheels at the Lawrence Public Library and at 6th and Massachusetts. Task force members
planted 1,000 pinwheels in Douglas County for display during April. pinwheelsforprevention.org
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Local Students Show Support for Douglas County CASA
From first grade to high school, students in
Lawrence have opened their hearts to Douglas
County CASA. Lawrence high school students
are designing and building the 2016 CASA
playhouse this semester, and students in the Girl
Talk Club at Liberty Memorial Central Middle
School made special Valentines for CASA kids
in February. Proving that age is no barrier,
students in Katie Higgins’ first grade class at
Corpus Christi Catholic School donated dozens
of Easter baskets for children served by Douglas
County CASA.
All of these young
philanthropists are demonstrating just how
meaningful it can be when local youth share
their time and resources to help other kids.
Playhouse. Pictured above are local high
school students with LHS instructor Charlie
Lauts at the new College and Career Center.
These students accepted the challenge to design
and build the 2016 CASA playhhouse to help
raise funds and awareness for our CASA
program. The high school students presented
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three playhouse designs to our Board of
Directors in February, and the final decision was
a difficult one with such amazing and unique
choices. The winning design ultimately selected
for construction this semester is a Kansas barn
with sliding interior horse stall doors and an
attached silo with a tube slide.
Nabholz
Construction is the 2016 playhouse sponsor and
their staff members are providing special
support for this collaborative
project with CASA and USD 497.
Students must finish the project by
the end of the spring semester so the playhouse
can tour the community this summer with $5
donations being accepted for raffle tickets. The
lucky playhouse winner will be announced at
our CASAblanca benefit on September 30.
Valentines. The Girl Talk Club at Liberty
Memorial
Central
Middle
School
made 50 special Valentine cards, packaged with
treats and adorned with a red or pink mustang,
for our CASA kids. Pictured below are several
members of the club with CASA Executive
Director Diana Frederick. Special thanks to Rita
Rials, former CASA Volunteer, for sponsoring
such a great club! Go Mustangs!
Easter Baskets. Holidays can be hard for
children in foster care, so help from our CASA
Ambasadors and caring community members is
crucial for allowing our CASA kids to celebrate
special
occasions that
many children
take
for
granted.
Thanks
to
Corpus Christi
first
grade
teacher Katie
Higgins
and
her
students,
more than 30
Easter baskets and special cards were donated
for our CASA kids. Pictured above and below
are Ms.
Higgins
and
her
amazing
first grade
students!
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Douglas County CASA
Serving Children for 25 Years!
Mark your calendars now for Tuesday, May
10, 5 pm at Maceli's for a special shared
celebration to commemorate the 25th
Anniversary of Douglas County CASA and
the 30th Anniversary of the Citizen Review
Board. The event will also honor all CASA
and CRB volunteers, and the annual Hon.
Jean F. Shepherd Volunteer of the Year
Awards will be presented. Watch for more
information later about this community
celebration, and we hope to see you there!
THANK YOU!
We are extremely
grateful to everyone who has supported
the CASA mission in Douglas County via
financial
contributions,
grants,
volunteering, and in-kind gifts including
gift cards, birthday gifts and more. With
more than 40 children still waiting for a
CASA volunteer, your help is crucial and
greatly appreciated.
If you suspect child abuse or neglect,
please call the 24-hour report center at
1-800-922-5330. Call 911 if a child
is in immediate danger.
OUR WISH LIST …
♥ Restaurant gift cards
♥ Diaper bags ♥ Fleece blankets
♥ Board books
♥ Kohl’s, Walmart & Target
gift cards
♥ A CASA vehicle!
♥ iPads
CASA Outreach in the Community
Thanks to help from our dedicated staff and
board members, the past few months have
included important outreach and fundraising
opportunities for Douglas County CASA.
Ten Thousand Villages. December outreach
included a special community shopping event to
benefit our CASA program, and several board
members helped staff our information table in
the store. Pictured below at the Ten Thousand
Villages store are CASA board members Cathy
Shenoy and Wendi Kelemen-Braden.
Transformations Gala.
Aidan Loveland
Koster, Past-President of Douglas County
CASA, placed our program in the limelight on
January 23rd at Liberty Hall as she performed in
the annual Transformations Gala for a chance to
win $10,000 for our agency. Ten women
competed
on
behalf of ten
local non-profit
agencies and we
were so proud
that
Aidan
earned
third
place among the
2016 contestants.
She is pictured at
left
in
the
evening
gown
portion of the
event as “Rosa
de la CASA”.
Several
other
CASA board members and our director joined
Aidan onstage during her memorable
performance of “Maybe” from Annie. Special
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thanks also to Chris Koster and Laura Koster for
sharing their time and talent onstage for CASA!
St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Thousands of people
viewed the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in
Lawrence on March 17, and we were excited to
have a CASA entry in the procession. Mickey
Edwards, state director of the Kansas CASA
Association, drove the KCA Volkswagen bug in
the parade, followed by a CASA float with a
model of the 2016 CASA playhouse under
construction. Special thanks to everyone who
was a part of this great outreach, including
Nabholz Construction, volunteers, and CASA
board members Wendi Kelemen-Braden and
Heather Rasmussen and their children.
Building Trust
Zumbathon.
Thanks to everyone who
participated in our first annual Zumbathon on
February 21. We raised more than $780 for
CASA! Special thanks also to Bishop Seabury
Academy for donating their gym and to all the
instructors – including CASA staff member
Amy Buchele-Ash - who donated extra time to
make this event successful and FUN!
My experience has been more than gratifying. I
have been on a case for more than two years
now. My child was only 4 years old when I
started. It took time to form a bond and trust, not
only with my child, but also with her family. In
the beginning, she was nervous and timid to talk
with me about things. Now, she tells me more
information than I need to know with very little
prodding because she is so excited to tell me
what is happening in her life. We have become
really close over the last two years, and I see her
monthly. I email with the adults in her life more
frequently.
Listening and Observing
Originally Posted on January 25, 2016 on
the KU Law School Blog
Law student reaps personal, professional
rewards as CASA volunteer
It also took time for me to understand my child
and her wishes. I had to watch her and see how
she verbally and non-verbally responded to
questions on a subject. For being so young, she
could tell me a lot indirectly. At 4 years old, I
couldn’t directly ask her what she wanted. She
only understood the process of what was
happening in the simplest of terms. I learned to
be attentive to what she voiced and how she
behaved.
Advocating
Melanie Brewer
I am a CASA volunteer. CASA stands for courtappointed
special
advocate,
and
my
responsibility is to advocate for a child in a
child-in-need-of-care (CINC) case. This entails
listening and understanding my child’s needs
and wishes. I speak with everyone involved in
my child’s life — from family to teachers and
social workers. I gather information to
understand and explain what is happening in my
child’s life and to voice my child’s needs and
wishes in reports to the court.
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As a CASA, I advocate for what my child needs.
Early on, I noticed her speech was behind and
she was throwing tantrums out of frustration. I
thought she could use help. In a court report, I
explained the behavior I saw and recommended
speech therapy and individual therapy. The court
made both of my recommendations “tasks” to
complete on her case plan. My child completed
speech therapy and individual therapy. She now
speaks clearly and can articulate her frustrations.
It has been so rewarding to witness her growth.
I think as a law student being a CASA is
rewarding personally and professionally. I
learned how CINC cases work. I write court
reports. I speak with others involved in the case,
both family members and professionals. Serving
as a CASA gives you experience with skills that
can’t be taught. You learn to listen, not just with
your ears. And you walk away knowing you
make a difference — even if only to one child.
— Melanie Brewer is a third-year KU Law
student from Olathe. She is a CASA volunteer
with Douglas County CASA in Lawrence.
CASA Staff
Spotlight:
CINNAMON RAMER
We were thrilled to welcome Cinnamon
Ramer as our new part-time Development
Director in January. With a KU Journalism
degree and experience voluntering and working
in the non-profit realm, Cinnamon brings a great
deal of talent and dedication to our CASA team.
She’s already hard at work on our 2016
CASAblanca event and many other fundraising
projects, and we feel extremely lucky to add her
to our CASA team. Ready to help as needed,
Cinnmon graciously agreed to answer a few
traditional questions for our newsletter.
What drew you to CASA as you were
pondering new opportunities? The question I
ask myself before any endeavor I pursue is can I
put my heart and soul into it? I never give part
of myself to anything I commit to, I jump in
wholeheartedly.
So
when
looking
at
employment opportunities I wanted to make sure
it was an organization that I could fully support.
This is particularly important in the non-profit
realm, as fundraising is a labor of love.
Adoration for the organization is an absolute
necessity because we, as ambassadors and
fundraisers, have an obligation to tell our
organization’s story to the community in the best
possible way. This story cannot be told
appropriately without a great passion for the
mission and dedication to elevate it to the next
level.
When the position to be CASA’s Development
Director presented itself, I knew it was the
opportunity I had been looking for. Having three
children of my own ages 12, 14 and 20, my
world has been child-focused for many years. I
enjoy being around children of all ages, and
always try to lend support to any child in need. I
feel that CASA’s mission aligns with my
aspirations both personally and professionally to
give back to the community and make a
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difference in others’ lives.
What has been the most
rewarding aspect of your
time with CASA so far? I
have loved getting to know
all the people involved in
making this organization
what it is. It is truly inspiring
to
know
how
much
community support and love
CASA
has,
both
by
individuals and businesses. I
have also loved knowing that
every day I come to work in some way I impact
a child’s life. Whether it’s finding a new donor,
planning an event, or assembling Easter baskets,
I leave knowing that my work is important and
matters to so many children. This is truly
rewarding, and not everyone can say their job
warms their soul. I feel very blessed and
thankful for the opportunity.
What has been the most challenging or
surprising aspect? I have been surprised to
learn how much work is done by a very small
number of people. Although we have great
community support, the day-to-day operations
are managed by a very small team of just 8
people. It is truly shocking how much work
these amazing people manage to juggle to make
CASA an exceptional organization that is
successful and enduring. There are truly not
enough hours in the day to handle so many
tasks, but somehow they do it. The other thing
that has been very surprising is the amount of
children in protective care right here in Douglas
County. I think generally there may be a
misperception of the magnitude of abuse and
neglect happening to so many children right here
in our own community. Many children are
facing the direst of circumstances, and so many
of the stories I have heard have been truly
heartbreaking.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to spend my free time with my family,
traveling and being in nature. We enjoy
detaching from the chaos of daily life to be
around beautiful landscapes, bodies of water,
and the animals that inhabit whatever area we
are in. I love taking walks in the woods with my
dog and exploring
nature trails. I enjoy
seeing all beauties of
the earth whether it’s
a tiny flower, a
colorful lizard, or
magnificent sunset.
One of my favorite
summer activities is
to camp, fish and
canoe
with
my
family.
What are your
favorite foods and
restaurants? I am a
sucker for Mexican
food. There really
isn’t any Mexican
food I don’t like, and
Lawrence certainly
isn’t short on options. If I had to pick one, my
favorite is El Potro, I love those jalapeno cream
cheese enchiladas (and who doesn’t love that
cheese dip?)
Cinnamon is pictured at left with her daughter,
Hunter; her boys Kyle and Kalin are pictured
with their dog, Duke. If you haven’t had the
pleasure of meeting Cinnamon yet, be sure to
introduce yourself soon!
Support Douglas County CASA:
 Donate online at www.dccasa.org.
 Shop on Amazon via smile.amazon.com and
select Douglas County CASA as the
benefitting charity.
 Buy tickets to concerts, games and other
events via www.eztickets4you.com
 Sponsor or buy tickets to CASAblanca; or
donate an item for our silent auction.
A special section for our Douglas County CASA Volunteers
New Recruits Help Pilot
National CASA Volunteer
Training Curriculum
Our agency was honored to be selected as one of
11 pilot sites in the country to test the new
National CASA volunteer training curriculum,
updated for the first time since 2007. We are
very grateful to our new volunteers who
patiently braved the new curriculum during the
pilot phase. Six of these new recruits are now
certified as Court Appointed Special Advocates
and are being assigned to children on our
waiting list.
Pictured at left are (back row) Erica Garcia,
Nancy Delgado, Kathy Elkins; (middle row)
Katie Gilman, Janet Burch, Lana Walsh;
(front row) Bill Burch and Cinnamon Ramer.
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With more than 40 children in need of a
CASA volunteer at this time, we are especially
delighted to welcome our newest volunteers and
wish them well in their new role. If you know
someone who may be interested in
volunteering, please tell them to call the
CASA office at 785-832-5172 or visit our
website at www.dccasa.org.
Our next
training session will be held in June.
Douglas County CASA Volunteers
Served 132 Children in 2015
2015 was a busy year for our CASA program.
Our dedicated CASAs volunteered more than
7,000 hours to serve 132 children, and drove
nearly 46,000 miles to visit and advocate for
their CASA kids. Children served in 2015
included 77 girls and 55 boys. Ages 0-5: 47
children; 6-11 years: 38 children; 12-15 years:
25 children; 16-18+ years: 22 youth. A total of
35 cases closed, with permanency outcomes
including adoption, reunification with a parent,
and aging out.
We Appreciate
Our Dedicated
CASA
Volunteers!
April
is
National
Volunteer Month, so
spring is an important
time to remind all of our
dedicated CASA volunteers how very much
your time, compassion, and incredible efforts are
appreciated on behalf of abused and neglected
children year-round. In addition to serving as
Court Appointed Special Advocates for children,
volunteers share their time and talent as board
members, CASA Ambassadors, committee
members, helpers with special events and
mailings, and more. We hope all of our amazing
volunteers will join us at Maceli’s on May 10 for
our 25th anniversary celebration and volunteer
recognition event. You are making a difference
for vulnerable children, and you are
appreciated!!
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SUMMER
SCHOLARSHIPS!
Douglas County CASA is pleased to provide
our CASA kids and other at-risk children
with scholarships for summer camps and
activities again in 2016, thanks to generous
grant funding by the Ethel and Raymond
Rice Foundation. Watch your email, or call
the CASA office, for application forms to
help enroll your CASA kids in summer
activities including sports, nature, art, and
much more!
Douglas County CASA, Inc.
CASA Board of Directors: Reid Bork,
Kelley Catlin, Katrina Chatman,
Kendall Heiman (Secretary),
Eric Hiebert, Rick Hird (President), Claudia Jones,
Wendi Kelemen-Braden (Vice-President),
Aidan Loveland Koster (Past President),
Heather Rasmussen, Cathy Shenoy (Treasurer),
Amy Shumaker, George Ulbrick, Suzanne Valdez,
Ken Wertzberger. Honorary Board Member:
Jean F. Shepherd.
Ex officio: Jill LaPoint (CASA Ambassadors);
Olivia Feathers (Kappa Alpha Theta).
CASA Staff: Diana Frederick, Executive Director;
Susan Allen, Advocate Coordinator;
Amy Buchele-Ash, Advocate Coordinator;
Maria Butler, Administrative Assistant;
Margie Carr, Advocate Coordinator;
Carolyn Johnson, Advocate Coordinator;
Brooksie McCarty, Advocate Coordinator;
Cinnamon Ramer, Development Director
Contact Information: Douglas County CASA, Inc.,
1009 New Hampshire, Suites A & B, Lawrence, KS
66044; Phone: 785-832-5172; Fax: 785-856-1279;
E-mail: casa@douglas-county.com;
Web site: www.dccasa.org.
Our Mission:
We provide comprehensive advocacy for abused
and neglected children in need of care and under
the protection of the court system. Our trained
volunteers investigate, facilitate, monitor and
mentor. Through compassion and commitment,
they are dedicated to be the child’s voice through
their journey to a safe, loving permanent home.