Any local resident who might be interested in becoming a special advocate for abused and neglected children in Vermilion and Edgar counties can do so by taking part in a training session later this month.
CASA, which stands for “Court-Appointed Special Advocates”, is hosting a training starting on June 14th for new volunteers. The organization oversees 349 children between the two counties. Advocate Coordinator Taylor Neville explains what some of the three-week, 30-hour sessions will be about.
“We walk you through the court system, what the different hearings are, what you’re going to see within the courtroom,” she says. “We walk you through what kind of homes you’re going to look up, because a lot of homes that we walk into aren’t homes that we’re used to seeing in our day-to-day lives.”
Neville says that CASA’s volunteers will be responsible for visiting foster homes and writing court reports about the kids they are in charge of. She says the volunteers will be a “special eye” for kids who wouldn’t otherwise have one.
“It allows the children to have someone that they can talk to, have someone that they trust, and they can tell things–if they need help with anything, if they’re not feeling heard within the system,” she says.
Volunteers must be at least 21 years old to volunteer. You can register for the volunteer session by visiting CASAVermilion.org.
