CASA to raise funds for 32 percent hike in cases

In 2015, Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, served 353 North Idaho children removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or violence. In just Kootenai County, 223 children were advocated for in court by CASA. Those numbers have increased 32.4 percent this year, and 50 percent of these children are age 5 or younger.

“Our CASA advocates are volunteers. The increase in number of children needing a CASA advocate puts a strain on our existing advocates. Historically, one advocate serves an average of three children. Currently, that number is higher. With case numbers on the rise, it is critical that CASA train a substantial number of new advocates to meet the demand,” said Lora Whalen, CASA board president.

Without adequate funding for training, CASA cannot train enough advocates to meet the caseload demand. CASA then has to triage cases — remove an advocate from one case to another more desperate case, resulting in CASA only “monitoring” a case. So far this year, CASA has had to monitor 9 cases.

CASA provides a diverse network of Court Appointed Special Advocates to represent and protect neglected and abused children of North Idaho.

The organization is holding its largest fundraiser and awareness event of the year, the Ray of Hope breakfast, from 7-8 a.m. Thursday, April 28, at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. The breakfast is free.

“It is our goal that we raise enough funds and recruit enough new advocates so that every child has a CASA advocate to serve as their voice in court,” said advocate trainer Diane Shriner.

The keynote speaker is CASA advocate Chris Nguyen.

“Chris is an exemplary young man. It is very unusual for a young male, still in college, to volunteer so much time to serve children in need in our community. He does a wonderful job fighting for these kiddos. I wish we had more young individuals like him volunteering as CASA advocates. They have so much to offer,” said KJ Torgerson, CEO of CASA.

Tim Storms, Guinness World Record holder for “lowest note produced by a human” and the “widest vocal range,” will be performing at the free breakfast, as well as members of the Northern Dance Academy. They will be performing the dance number “Break the Cycle.”

CASA’s vision is to ensure every child in the five northern counties of Idaho lives in a safe, healthy and nurturing family environment. CASA relies on the contributions from the many generous individuals and corporations of North Idaho.

For more information, please contact KJ Torgerson, CEO, at 667-9165. To RSVP for the breakfast, visit www.NorthIdahoCASA.com or text names of attendees to (208) 771-4274.