There are many children in the Ware County community in dire need of help, due to issues faced in the home, whether that be substance abuse or poverty.
Fortunately, that’s where organizations like Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) come in.
CASA is a non-profit that focuses on pairing volunteers with children suffering from abuse, neglect, or some other situation that puts them in foster care. The volunteers regularly meet with the children, while communicating with all parties involved in the case (parents, foster parents, social workers, etc.).
They then act as an advocate for the child’s best interest in court, until the child either returns home, or is placed in a permanent home.
“CASA is the way our community can respond to the foster care problem,” said Waycross CASA director Jessica Blackrick. She and CASA lead advocacy coordinator Fairiby Frye went on to explain the problem with foster care in the area, specifically that there are not enough foster care homes in the area; there are currently 580 children in foster care in the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Issues that often put these children in need of foster care include poverty and substance abuse. Currently, they only have four staff, and 29 volunteers.
The Waycross CASA branch is under the umbrella of the Action Pact non-profit community agency, which supports multiple other charitable and non-profit programs in the region.
Blackrick and Frye spoke of two upcoming events related to the program — volunteer training, scheduled to begin April 18, as well as its cow patty bingo fundraiser. Applications for the volunteer training are due by March 30.
The training usually consists of 30 hours, spread across four Saturdays, and includes 10 hours of court observation.
“The training basically consists of education about childhood trauma, childhood growth and things like that, and education on how our judicial system works,” Frye explained, “so they can become familiar with how that goes.”
For those interested in learning more about or volunteering with the local CASA, they can be reached at (912) 809-6072. Their official Facebook account is Southeast Georgia CASA action pact, Inc. For those interested in becoming a financial partner, visit www.myactionpact.org/donate.
