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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.
Each May, National Foster Care Month, we take the time to raise awareness of the children and families involved in the foster care system and the need for more people to step up to support them.
Last year there were 47,913 children in in the Texas foster care system, 344 of whom were right here in CASA in the Heart of Texas’ service area – Brown, Comanche, and Mills counties. These children need support from their communities.
Children go into the foster care system when their family is in crisis. There is a common misconception that once these children are in foster care they’re safe and no further help for them is needed. This could not be further from the truth,” said Michelle Wells, Executive Director of CASA in the Heart of Texas. “Foster care is important for protecting children temporarily. It is not, however, meant to be a permanent solution.”
Too many children across the state need our help.
Join us today as Dr. Bob Leonard goes “In Depth” with Carrie Phelps, coordinator of Court Appointed Special Advocates.
They come from all walks of life and have varied professional, educational and ethnic backgrounds.
However, Court Appointed Special Advocates serve with a singular purpose â to represent the best interests of children in court.
We applaud Marion County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Wilson, who recently swore in three new CASA advocates to serve the children of Marion County.
Each child with whom CASA volunteers work have been â through no fault of their own â abused and neglected and have been removed from their homes.
The advocate then has a lot of work to do, beginning with building the childâs trust.