{"id":7711,"date":"2025-04-21T10:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=7711"},"modified":"2025-04-21T11:00:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T16:00:50","slug":"casa-for-kids-focuses-on-supporting-families-during-national-child-abuse-prevention-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/7711-casa-for-kids-focuses-on-supporting-families-during-national-child-abuse-prevention-month\/","title":{"rendered":"CASA for Kids Focuses on Supporting Families During National Child Abuse Prevention Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and CASA for Kids is raising awareness of the need for more dedicated members of the community to step up and become CASA volunteers to help end child abuse and neglect through supporting children and their families.<\/p>\n<p>CASA volunteers, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, are everyday people from all walks of life who are recruited and specially trained to advocate for children in foster care and provide a consistent, reliable adult presence for them during a difficult time in their life. CASA for Kids currently serves children who have experienced abuse or neglect in nine counties, including Clay, Clinton, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Jasper, Marion and White Counties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur volunteers\u2019 first priority is to keep families together whenever safe and possible,\u201d said Zoe Bridges, Volunteer Outreach Coordinator for CASA for Kids. \u201cFoster care is only a temporary solution to the problems at hand. We need to create long term support networks that work to care for families, make reunification a possibility, and help break the cycle for the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CASA volunteers are assigned to one child or sibling group to advocate for their best interest in court, in school and in other settings. They get to know the child and everyone involved in their life, such as their parents and other family members, foster parents, therapists, caseworkers and teachers, in order to develop a realistic picture of the child\u2019s unique situation. They engage those important to the child and family in order to build a network of support around them, so that the family has access to support and resources after the case ends. They make recommendations to the judge overseeing the child\u2019s case, with the goal of ensuring that the child is safe and the family has the resources, support and healthy relationships needed to heal.<\/p>\n<p>Locally, in March 2025, CASA for Kids served 365 children in the foster care system across their service area, which means there are still 388 children who need someone to advocate for them. This April, consider stepping up to make a difference by becoming a CASA volunteer. \u201cThere is always a need for more CASA volunteers,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cBy becoming a volunteer, you can take your efforts beyond just awareness, and do your part to help support children and families in crisis right here in our community.\u201d When reunification is not a possibility for the children they serve, CASA volunteers work to find others that can provide a positive, healthy and loving environment. These can include relatives, friends or other adults that are important in the child\u2019s life\u2014keeping a child connected to their home community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe at CASA for Kids always hope for the day when CASA, foster care and a national month dedicated to child abuse prevention are no longer needed because all children are growing up safe, secure and supported with their families,\u201d said Bridges. \u201cUntil then, we will continue to seek more members of the community to join our growing movement so that we can provide a CASA volunteer for every child who needs one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you are interested in learning about the work of CASA for Kids or becoming a CASA volunteer, visit https:\/\/casa4change.org\/, call (855) 484-6403 or email Zoe Bridges at zbridges@casa4change.org.<\/p>\n<p>April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. If you see abuse, report it to 1 (800) 252-2873 or go to https:\/\/childabuse.illinois.gov\/. If a child\u2019s life is in danger, call 911.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and CASA for Kids is raising awareness of the need for more dedicated members of the community to step up and become CASA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CASA for Kids Focuses on Supporting Families During National Child Abuse Prevention Month - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/7711-casa-for-kids-focuses-on-supporting-families-during-national-child-abuse-prevention-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CASA for Kids Focuses on Supporting Families During National Child Abuse Prevention Month - 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