New volunteers continue tradition of helping children
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Three new CASA volunteers have officially joined the 17th Judicial Court District. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers gather information and make recommendations to judges trying to make determinations for what is best for neglected and abused children thrust into the court system. Blaine, Valley and Phillips counties make up the 17th District, a state level court.
Three new volunteers, from Blaine County, were part of a class recently completed to train first-time CASA volunteers. Rev. Sherry Edwards, Rita MacWilliam and Alva MacWilliam, all from Blaine County, completed the CASA training led by Mark Douglass, the Executive Director for Hill County CASA.
The CASA program for all of Montana first started in Blaine County. A Seattle judge, in 1977, started a pilot program to train volunteers to gather information and make recommendations to judges before making decisions about the future of children in the court system. Darlene Pomeroy, who was the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for the 17th Judicial District in Blaine County, trained volunteers and was instrumental in getting the program started in Montana. Because of a shortage of CASA volunteers, less than half the children in Montana's court system are served. In some counties, programs are nonexistent.
Because of shrinking numbers of volunteers for the program, the CASA program was reorganized about six months ago. The 12th Judicial District (Hill, Choteau and Liberty) was combined with the 17th District under one director. Mark Douglass, already with the Hill County group, remained as Executive Director of the larger six county combined group. Douglass explained the permanent organizational study to be used by CASA with the two judicial districts is still under study.
Douglass conducted the training for the latest class of five volunteers. The volunteers take a 30-hour pre-service training course, with 15 hours completed at-home and online, and an additional 15 hours of in-person, classroom exercises. After successful completion, the trained volunteers are sworn in by the judge of the district court where they live and will serve.
Douglass, who was educated to be a teacher, has been with CASA for about four years, the last three as Executive Director for Hill County CASA. He was active in child advocacy in other states before moving to the Havre area. His wife, an attorney, saw the need for more information about the situations of children who ended up in the court system through no fault of their own. Douglass responded to her suggestion to help these kids and became, first, a CASA volunteer.
"Unfortunately," he said, "we are still in need of more volunteers. Some volunteers for our two court districts have moved away or not been able to continue serving. We started the recent class to fill that gap, but we will still need more volunteer helpers." Douglass plans to begin a new class to train court appointed special advocates in late October.
Douglass said there are no special qualifications to be a CASA volunteer, only a commitment to help unfortunate kids. He added, "No matter their background, volunteers are people who want to 'do what is best for kids.'"
From a judge's perspective, Judge John McKeon of the 17th Judicial District, said, "The cases where CASA volunteers get involved are more likely to be 'permanently closed'. Volunteers get involved with the children's cases, stick with gathering the facts and then make their recommendations. The CASA volunteers are critical to the process. We are always in need of more volunteers to meet the case load."
If you are interested in helping make a better life for children who end up in the court system, you can contact Mark Douglass at 406-265-6743 or 406-399-4519 for more information about the upcoming class or other ways to volunteer. You could make life a lot better for unfortunate children that find themselves in the court system.
