Abused or neglected children deserve to be safe, have a permanent home and the opportunity to thrive. That’s what Kathryn Barron stands for as a volunteer of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program where she assists the process of representing children in the courtroom over family issues. At the 2016 Beyond Paper Tigers conference in Walla Walla Kathryn represented the law and court system sector. She informed us about the diligent efforts that CASA is making to insure that children are represented by their own attorney in the court system. CASA is instrumental in assisting abused and neglected children until they are returned home or an adoption process is complete. When necessary a CASA representative will continue on a child’s behalf until age 18.
We also learned that the foster care system is wrought with ACEs by the very nature of the trauma involved in displaced children. CASA of Walla Walla provides ACEs and resilience training material for their volunteers and staff. In April 2017 Teri Barila will be assisting CASA staff with another training session for new volunteers. After hearing Kathryn speak at the conference and then personally speaking with Jeff Gwinn, the Walla Walla director of CASA, I’m convinced that our local CASA representatives are passionate about finding safe and permanent homes for kids.
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