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Member of The National CASA Association
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| #CASAonthemove June Contest Winner Congratulations to Amy Robitshek, who won the June #CASAonthemove car magnets contest for the magnet that traveled the longest distance from the center of Georgia...to Rwanda, Africa! 
At Institute of National Musuems of Rwanda Congratulations also to Lisa Salman, who was chosen from the entries as a random winner. 
Getting ready to fly high in the sky Be sure to watch for information on our Facebook page in September for the next #CASAonthemove car magnets contest! |
Donors for Spring 2016
THANK YOU to all our donors between April 1st and June 30th! Your support of Georgia CASA helps to provide comprehensive support services to our affiliate programs, enabling them to offer the highest quality of advocacy to dependent children. |
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Georgia attendees at the National CASA Conference
in D.C. - June 2016
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Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia received a Children's Champion in Congress Award from National CASA in D.C. - June 2016
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| Calendar of Events 8/16 - 18: Training of the Facilitator (Macon, GA) 11/2 - 4: Georgia Conference on Children & Families (Augusta, GA) Save the Date! 2/7/2017: CASA Day at the Capitol (Atlanta) Save the Date! 3/10 - 14, 2017: National CASA Conference (Seattle, WA) Save the Date! |
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New Georgia CASA Board Members
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Welcome to the following new Georgia CASA board members, who are serving a three-year term as of July 1st:
- Debbie Caras (Dunwoody), Technical Advisor, McKesson and Kappa Alpha Theta alum
- Jenohn Carter (Snellville), Reminiscence Coordinator, Sunrise Assisted Living at Web Ginn
- Mandira Mehra (Atlanta), community volunteer with experience in technology companies and marketing
- Melodie Smith (Dallas), Executive Director, CASA of Paulding County
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Voices Raising Voices Story
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Lawrence (Larry) Sheber loves to serve. He has served as a board member and volunteer for a number of local organizations near his home in Fannin County. Even so, he still longed for a volunteer opportunity where he could more directly and profoundly impact lives for the better. In the midst of his
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CASA Volunteer
Larry Sheber
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search, Larry heard a presentation by a recruiter for CASA of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit. He decided to take a closer look, joined a training class and was sworn in as a CASA volunteer in 2012.
Larry was soon assigned to serve 'Bobby,' a teen child of divorced parents. Bobby had spent the first years after the divorce happily with his dad, but as a young teen, he asked a judge to move him into his mother's custody. This new arrangement worked well for a while, but Bobby's mom was into drugs and unable to hold down a steady job. Due to his mom's lack of stability, which had also led to a loss of contact with his father, Bobby was placed in foster care.
Due to DFCS staff turnover, Bobby had three case managers during just a few months in foster care. At some point, one of the case managers made a notation that Bobby's dad was in prison. No confirmation was completed, but subsequent case managers read the notation as fact and spent no time seeking him.
Thankfully, Larry took seriously his job as independent investigator. Armed with his CASA order providing access to all sorts of records, he soon learned that Bobby's dad was not in prison. With a little more legwork, he located Bobby's dad, who had in fact been trying to contact DFCS for several months in hopes of reuniting with his son.
During his eight months in foster care, Bobby had three different case managers and six different foster homes. The frequent moves caused him to miss so much school that he fell two semesters behind on the track to graduation.
Without his CASA Larry, Bobby might still be bouncing from foster home to foster home, school to school. Thanks to his CASA, he is home with his dad, achieving straight A's in a private school, and on track to high school graduation and future success.
Friends and family often say to Larry how they could never work with neglected and abused children. It's too depressing.
His response: "What would be depressing is if there weren't CASAs to help advocate for children who are neglected and abused, not only by their parents but often by a system that is understaffed...and overworked."
In CASA, Larry Sheber has found his place of profound impact and fulfilling service. His passion for service will no doubt help many more children like 'Bobby' find their way home.
In Spring 2016, Georgia CASA launched a project, Voices Raising Voices, for CASA volunteers in the state to share their volunteer stories to help recruit a new wave of CASA volunteers so that even more children can have a voice for their best interests in court. Look for these volunteer stories to be shared in various ways. Read more about Larry Sheber by checking out the Voices Raising Voices page on our website..
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Affiliate Program Highlights
Congratulations to Rosalind Alston, Program Coordinator of Chattahoochee CASA in Columbus, who received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's Strengthening Families Award in April in Columbus. She also received recognition in March at the 14th Annual Women's Empowerment Luncheon for Women Serving Children, Youth & Families in Columbus.
Dougherty CASA in Albany, which operates under the Lily Pad umbrella organization, gave Bobby Cagle, Georgia's DFCS director, and Stephanie Blank, Chair of Governor Deal's Child Welfare Reform Committee, a tour of the Lily Pad center and discussed collaboration and foster care reform in the spring.
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Enotah CASA in Dahlonega recently held its largest and most successful fundraiser, Dancing with the North Georgia Stars. Local celebrities danced to raise funds to win the People's Choice Award and the Judges' Award. The fundraiser included two shows and a gala after party, raising $47,000!
Petula Gomillion, Executive Director of Atlantic Area CASA in Hinesville, was featured in the Coastal Courier Life in Liberty publication in February. The full-color feature highlighted her passion of serving and work at the CASA program. Click here to view the feature.
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Georgia's Ranking in KIDS COUNT 2016 Data Book
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Georgia ranked 42nd in the 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book, which tracks 16 indicators in four areas - economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. Even though Georgia is down two spots from 2015, the state's data showed improvement in several indicators for each area.
Economic Well-Being (45th) - improvements shown over 2015, including
 drops in child poverty, children growing up in families with high housing cost burdens, and children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.
Education (39th) - steady improvements, including increases in reading scores and high school graduation rates.
Health (36th) - drop in child and teen death rates and more children with health insurance.
Family and Community (40th) - continuing drop in teen birth rates and percentage of children in single-parent families decreased slightly.
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