The exciting thing that I have to report to you this month is that we have a BIG expansion of the Lompoc office coming!

We have contracted with our current landlord to lease the entire upstairs of our current office! We have more than 1300 sq feet upstairs, and it's going to be awesome. In addition to moving the CASA offices upstairs, we will have an area that we are calling our "coffee bar" and it can be used by you with older CASA youth, and will also be used for training and volunteer meetings - great space!

We are keeping the downstairs space and will transform it into a fantastic "kids room" which you will be able to use by appointment with your CASA youth. There will be an area for homework, crafts, games, and just hanging out. (no cooking and no video games).

We are expanding our Family Visits Program to Lompoc and will start with family visits in July, but there will still be opportunities for you to be able to use the space with your CASA youth - I promise! We will also use the space to meet with volunteers who don't want to go upstairs for visits with their Advocate Supervisor.

Finally - we will be hiring a new position in Lompoc for the Family Visits staff. If you know of someone who could be a fit, or if you are interested yourself, please reach out to me! The position will be posted on Indeed.com by the end of the week. It's really exciting to be expanding our Family Visits Program into Lompoc, where there is great need. We are also looking for Family Visit Volunteers, and if you would like more information on how to volunteer in Lompoc or in Santa Maria, please reach out to Brittany, the program supervisor for Family Visits - Brittany@sbcasa.org

As always, thank you for all you do for our kids!

Kim Colby Davis, Executive Director

In last month's newsletter, I asked the poll question to determine your readiness to meet in our small groups for monthly continuing ed and lunch.

From those who answered, 81% said they were ready now or would be in June, so we are going to give it a try and see how it goes.

Of course, as always, we are concerned about your health (and ours!). We are watching and following CDC guidelines for meetings. Currently, the recommendation is that vaccinated people can gather in small groups indoors, with some social distancing.

Meetings will be as follows:

Lompoc - Tuesday, June 15

Santa Maria - Wednesday, June 16

Santa Barbara - Thursday, June 17

We plan to hold the meetings mid-month each month, and with the same schedule.

RSVP will be to your Advocate Supervisor, who will also track the number of lunches needed. In the past, we have had considerable waste, and we are going to try to avoid that by only ordering lunches for those who RSVP for a lunch. You are always welcome to attend, even without an RSVP, but we may not have an extra lunch for you.

Our Training Coordinator, Tina, will be arranging the monthly speakers, and we have a set plan from the Judicial Council for our topics. If you are not able to make it to the monthly meeting, you can continue your continuing education hours by doing any of the activities that are presented in the monthly memo that Tina has been sending out to try to make it as easy as possible for you to accomplish your mandated 12 hours per year of continuing education.

CASA of Santa Barbara County is excited to share that the National CASA/GAL Association for Children is partnering with FosterStrong to host the first-ever, CASA/GAL Volunteer’s Day.

CASA/GAL Volunteer’s Day, which will be observed on May 18, provides an opportunity for us, along with hundreds of other programs across the country, to honor and thank CASA/GAL volunteers who work hard to ensure children and youth in the foster care system have their voices heard every day.

FosterStrong is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the negative narrative surrounding foster care.

To recognize the dedication and resilience of CASA/GAL volunteers, the National CASA/GAL Association and FosterStrong are also working with members of Congress to recognize CASA/GAL Volunteer’s Day on May 18, followed by a culminating virtual celebration for all CASA/GAL volunteers at 7 p.m. ET that evening.

Stay tuned for more information as we hope you’ll be a part of the experience! Please see the invitation attached for additional details and register for the event today: Register Here

The art kits I told you about last month are here!! Please coordinate with your advocate supervisor to pick up a gift of arts and crafts for your youth.

These will be distributed on a first come - first served basis, and we have kits for all age groups. The kits are spectacular, and if your youth is at all interested in arts and crafts, this will be a hit for sure.

Our Children's Activity Committee was so excited about the success of the Hippity Hoppity Obstacle Course that they are working hard to find ways to make it possible for our Annual Summer BBQ to return. They are looking at some different outdoor activities, outdoor eating, and look forward to welcoming you!

For new CASA volunteers, the Summer BBQ was started many years ago to honor a CASA volunteer who passed away. Carolyn's family wanted a way to honor her passion for CASA's mission, and our wonderful Judge wanted our kids to have every opportunity to have as "normal" a childhood as possible. The Summer BBQ is reminiscent of family get together or company picnics. They go all out for the kids, and I think they enjoy it as much as the kids do.

We are still looking at how the pool can be an option - it's all subject to CDC guidelines, of course, but we are happy to be able to offer the opportunities. Date is the Saturday after Father's Day. Details to follow.