CASA Program seeks volunteers ahead of summer training program

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- The CASA Program of St. Joseph County is urgently seeking volunteers.

Pre-service training starts in just over two weeks on June 16.

A court appointed special advocate, or CASA, acts on behalf of children —often in abuse and neglect cases.

The upcoming CASA training will begin June 16 and will run through July 22. It’s a six-week program held in person in the basement of the Juvenile Justice Center in South Bend.  

"Volunteers are very important to have versus a staff member. Because if you have a volunteer, they can have one case and focus on those children, versus if you have a staff member who's serving 50 kids, they have to kind of delegate their time. And when you have someone from the community who's there, that's not only beneficial to the case, because it's one person focusing on one case, but also the kids really appreciate when they find out there's someone from their community who cares about them," CASA Recruiter Trainer of St. Joseph County Amanda Buchholz said. 

Volunteers will complete a 35-hour pre-service training before being assigned to a case, either with a single child or a sibling group.  

Each volunteer is supported by a staff supervisor who helps guide them through the process, which includes attending court and initial visits with the children. 

"If you feel like it's something pulling on your heart strings, really consider it. A lot of volunteers who I end up training in class said they've known about CASA for a long time, and they kind of were debating on whether or not they should do it, and once they do it, they feel very rewarded knowing that they're helping someone in their community," Buchholz said. 

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you can sign up online.