My friend Maggie O’Brennan wrote this. She is the community liaison person for York County Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children office:
In the late Judge Emanuel Cassimatis’s words, CASA volunteers “build trusting relationships (with) families and make children feel safe and secure while the court decides where the child’s best interests lie.”
When Cassimatis brought the CASA program to York County in 1987, he intended for the advocates to focus on children who were 5-years-old or younger because they could not speak for themselves.
Things have changed and we are seeing more and more older children who are in need of an advocate to speak for them in court.
Today’s teenagers face many problems i.e., drugs and alcohol, gender identity issues, cyber bullying, sexual predators or just trying to find a place in this world. When these children are abused, neglected or abandoned by the very people that they should be able to turn to for help, then often the court will have to intervene to protect them.
No child should have to face this alone when there isn’t a family there to help them and protect them. They need trained advocates to look out for their best interests in court. To do this we need your help. The CASA program trains community volunteers who will advocate in court for these children.
We believe that every child deserves a CASA volunteer who will be there until their case is resolved and they achieve permanency. What we need are adults 21 years and older who are willing to make a commitment to these children for the time that they are under court jurisdiction.
If you believe as we do that all children deserve a safe, loving and permanent home then please contact CASA at 717-771-9754 or email mmobrennan@yorkcountypa.gov to begin the screening process for our spring training class.
