Friends,
First and foremost, I hope you and yours are staying healthy and doing well during these shared difficult times. I am taking this opportunity to share how we, CASA of Lancaster of County, have adapted to an ever changing landscape and are remaining true to our mission of advocating for children in the foster care system who are victims of abuse and neglect.
Focus on Best Interest of Children
CASA has not and will not deviate from our focus on the best interest of children. We continue to be aware that there is another CASA organization, with no affiliation to us, which works on behalf of the Latino/Latina community and is currently working to drive voter registration and raise funds.
We are not sending voter registration text messages. We are not calling you to solicit funds on behalf of CASA.
We continue to identify ourselves as CASA of Lancaster County. If you or someone you know has any questions about which CASA organization is reaching out, please check their mission or look for our logo.
Consistent Compassionate Adult Presence
CASA Volunteers have adapted in an unprecedented way, continuing to provide consistency for their CASA children in time when a pandemic has added an additional layer of uncertainty to lives already wrought with unknown. CASA Volunteers have video chatted with their CASA youth - sharing their pets, listening to library read alouds, doing crafts, or playing music as they build relationships. With Lancaster County firmly in the “green phase,” CASA Volunteers have continued their in-person visits with their CASA youth making the necessary adjustments to do so safely. Furthermore, CASA Volunteers continue to actively participate in court hearings, appearing virtually to speak to their written reports as needed.
Qualified and Trained CASAs
CASA of Lancaster County’s recruitment and training efforts continue. As we have previously shared, it is our belief that as children slowly return to their routines, child abuse reports will dramatically tick up as children once again interact with more adults and mandated reporters. We were able to swear-in our most recent training class of nine through a virtual ceremony and our first fully virtual training just started with nine more potential CASA Volunteers. In addition, bi-monthly virtual information sessions are being offered for interested community members who wish to become CASAs. Volunteer Managers are holding regular virtual office hours as one means of continuing to support our current active CASAs. Finally, on-going education and training opportunities have been cleverly adapted to be delivered to our experienced CASAs helping to build and hone their knowledge.
Fundamental Human Right of a Safe, Nurturing, and Permanent Home
Through the generosity of our community, CASA of Lancaster County is honored to be able to continue our mission, supporting our current CASA Volunteers and seeking new CASAs to meet the demand. We have worked to honor your support through increased communications – more frequent newsletters, virtual roundtable discussions, and focus groups, in an effort to increase transparency about our growth, successes, and areas of need. With your support, we will continue to live our mission of helping to facilitate a safe, nurturing, and permanent home for every child for whom our CASA Volunteers advocate.
Warmly,
Jessica Laspino
