The number of child abuse cases being handled by CASA Kane County is growing and the need for volunteers to help those children is growing right along with it, an agency spokeswoman said.
“We serve over 500 children right now. There are over 100 new kids in care than there were last year,” said Stephanie Marlatt, CASA’s director of communication and events.
CASA Kane County is a nonprofit volunteer organization that assists every child who comes into the juvenile court system due to abuse or neglect.
The organization provides “regular people” the training they need to serve as court-appointed special advocates and guardians ad litem for children brought into the court system, Marlatt said. When a child is removed from a home due to abuse or neglect, a hearing is set in which a CASA volunteer is assigned to the child, she said.
“We’re averaging about four or five shelter care hearings a week,” she said. “We used to average one a month.”
Kane County child abuse cases are at an all-time high, and CASA anticipates the numbers will increase when children go back to school and are seen by more people who might spot problems, Marlatt said. Teachers are trained mandated reporters who look for red flags of abuse or neglect, she said.
Right now there’s a shortage of volunteers, Marlatt said. They have 220 and another 10 will be sworn in in September, she said. That means about 50 children do not have a volunteer to help them, she said.
“We’re actively recruiting right now,” Marlatt said.
The next training class starts Sept. 15. It’s held virtually for eight weeks. CASA hopes to get between 25 and 30 people to sign up to become volunteers, Marlatt said.
“No one longs for a safe family more than a child in foster care,” said Sandie Cross, CASA’s director of education. “As a CASA volunteer, you are empowered by the courts to help make this dream a reality. Our volunteers are the one consistent adult in these children’s lives, bringing positive change to the lives of these foster youth.”
For more on becoming a volunteer, email Cross at sandiec@casakanecounty.org or call 630-443-3131.
(To report a suspected case of child abuse or neglect, go to dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov or call 1-800-252-2873. Call 911 for emergency situations.)
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
