CASA of Madison County advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children involved in the family court system. Based on the belief that every child is entitled to a safe and permanent home, CASA works in the court system through trained volunteers in collaboration with key agencies, legal counsel and community resources to serve as the child's advocate and represent the child in court.

Description:
CASA of Madison County advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children involved in the family court system. Our volunteers are dedicated, capable members of our community who want to speak up on behalf of children in need of safe, nurturing, permanent homes. Based on the belief that every child is entitled to a safe and permanent home, CASA works in the court system through trained volunteers in collaboration with key agencies, legal counsel and community resources to serve as the child's advocate and represent the child in court. CASA volunteers keep neglected and abused children in Madison County from falling through the cracks of the child safety and judicial systems. The volunteers are often assigned difficult cases and have the unique opportunity to follow those cases from beginning to end. Since the volunteers have only one or two cases at a time, they are able to do an in-depth study, which supplements the work of the Cabinet for Families and Children and contributes valuable information to the successful disposition of the case. In 2005, CASA volunteers from our program provided a voice for 25 children. These children might have become lost in the welfare system, silently waiting for the courts to decide their future, moving from foster home to foster home. Instead, as independent appointees of the court, CASA volunteers examined each child’s background completely, utilized necessary community resources and mentored the children and interested families as they endured the court process and provided crucial background information to assist attorneys in presenting their case. Every year, over half a million of our nation’s children reside in foster care or out of home placements. Most have been abused and/or neglected in their own homes, where they should have been safest. The child is removed from their home and family, placed with relatives or strangers and must wait for the judges, attorneys and social workers to decide their future. This process is confusing, frightening and can leave a child feeling completely alone. Without a safe, nurturing, permanent home where loving caregivers can meet the child’s needs, the child may grow incapable of accepting or giving love, of living a healthy or fulfilling life or living as functional members of society. As lawyers, judges, social workers and other court workers juggle many cases at once, unable to focus on the best interest of each child, the risk of losing a child in the system increases. CASA screens, trains and supervises volunteers, dedicated and capable members of our community, to be an active voice for these children

History:
CASA of Madison County, Inc. works with at-risk youth by training and supervising volunteers who advocate for children entering the court system due to alleged neglect or abuse. National CASA began as a Seattle judge, concerned with making decisions on behalf of neglected and abused children, began using trained volunteers from the community to be the eyes and ears of the court. In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court encouraged the expansion of CASA with the passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Today, 900 CASA programs exist across the U.S. Following the National CASA program model and affiliation, Family Court Judge Jeffrey Walson established CASA of Clark and Madison Counties in 1997. Judge Walson understood the difference a trained advocate could make in the life of a victim of abuse and neglect and he wanted to provide a voice to unheard victims. CASA of Madison County serves Madison County, Kentucky, a county near the edge of central Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region with a population near 80,000. Madison County, the 10th largest county in Kentucky, has experienced a population increase of 23.2% over the past ten years. With the population increasing, the number of domestic violence and child abuse cases rises. CASA of Madison County prepares for the future by preparing educated, capable and dedicated volunteers to be the voice of these neglected and abused children.

Contact person: Cynthia Grimes, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (859) 625-1949

Address:

1219B Lexington Rd. Richmond, KY 40475 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.madisoncasa.org

Directions:

If traveling south on I-75 from Lexington to Richmond, take Exit 90A toward Richmond. At the first traffic light, go right on to Lexington Ave. toward downtown Richmond. Just Past the Gateway grocery, take the first left on to Pin. . . (more)   Nearest Bus Stop: Senior Citizens Center, .10 minute walk