NEGA CASA BEGINS FRIENDS OF CASA CAMPAIGN

The Northeast Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program has kicked off its annual Friends of CASA campaign.

The Campaign began Nov. 2 with an open house at their office in Toccoa.

CASA provides court-appointed screened, trained and supervised volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children who are experiencing foster care as a result of abuse and/or neglect.

Northeast Georgia CASA serves children in Elbert, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Madison, Oglethorpe, Rabun, and Stephens counties.

CASA volunteers are ordinary citizens, from all walks of life, who have successfully completed the program’s background checks and training and have been sworn in as an officer of the court by a juvenile court judge.

Once appointed to a specific child or sibling group, the CASA volunteer visits that child regularly, talks with teachers, caregivers, relatives, counselors, etc., and writes a report for each court hearing.

The report makes recommendations regarding the child’s needs and wishes and provides important information to the court.

Northeast Georgia CASA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is dependent on donations from individuals and businesses to fulfill program operations and its mission of providing a strong advocate for each child in foster care in its eight-county service area.

The Friends of CASA campaign open house kick-off stressed the need for volunteers, board members, donors, and ambassadors for CASA.

Currently, the program is serving 300 children annually, however, there are a little more than 400 children each year in Northeast Georgia that are in foster care as a result of abuse or neglect.

For more information on CASA and how to volunteer you can go online to www.northeastgacasa.org or call the CASA office at 706-886- 1098.