Credit FILE PHOTO: Rebecca Green / WBOI
The Allen Superior Court’s family relations division is merging two of its child advocacy programs, which it says will “create a unified and stronger advocacy program for Allen County’s children.”
Allen County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) or an attorney with Guardian ad Litem (GAL) have historically been used as court-provided advocates for abused or neglected children.
These two programs have been paired to form the Allen County Office of GAL/CASA, according to a release from Allen Superior Court on Monday.
The goal of the merger is to ensure greater face-to-face contact between CASA advocates and children in GAL-support cases, something the court says had been difficult in the past due to limitations within GAL services. Now, the new office can assign CASAs to GAL cases.
A 25-year-old Fort Wayne man has been charged with four counts of felony child molesting in four incidents reported in December at the 12-year-old gir .