Dateline: August 11, 2005

CASA expands to help local foster kids

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Abused and neglected children in Donley County will soon have new advocates in the court system now that CASA of the High Plains has expanded its coverage to this county.

CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate, is a system by which a volunteer is appointed by a judge to provide factual information to the court on behalf of a child. CASA volunteers come from all walks of life and only handle one case at a time.

“We have been very interested in serving Donley County because it is a good fit for our area,” said Janet Watts, Executive Director for CASA of the High Plains.

Watts said her office is looking for six to eight local people to serve on an advisory committee and help recruit volunteers. Training will begin in September.

CASA represents children placed in the foster care system, most of whom have been removed from their homes because of their parents’ addiction to illegal drugs, typically methamphetamines. Watts said the cases are simply situations where the parents care more about themselves than about their own children.

Once in the foster system, children can be placed in several different homes and be served by several different caseworkers from Child Protective Services (CPS).

“The great thing about CASA is that those kids have the same representative from the time they enter the system to the time they reach a permanent home,” Watts said. “CASA is their only consistent face.”

Ann Huey is a CASA volunteer and advisory committee member in Clarendon and has worked as a foster parent and with the CASA system for over 20 years. She has been instrumental in bringing CASA to the kids of Donley County.

“I just saw what CASA did for my kids, and I want to be a part of getting that started here,” Huey said.

CASA is a non-profit organization that is separate from the state-run CPS. Cases are handled by a Cluster Court, which only deals with CPS cases. The court operates with the permission of District Judge David McCoy and is overseen by Judge Phil Vanderpool of Pampa.

The Cluster Court is the only one of its kind in the state and covers CPS cases in 23 counties in the Texas Panhandle. A special prosecutor serves the court with the permission of District Attorney Stuart Messer.

CASA of the High Plains was established in Gray County 1994 and now serves seven other counties including Donley, Hansford, Ochiltree, Lipscomb, Hemphill, Roberts, and Wheeler.

There are currently 122 kids in cases overseen by CASA of the High Plains, including 12 kids in six cases in Donley County.

“As soon as volunteers can be trained, Judge Vanderpool will start appointing volunteers to cases here,” Watts said.

Most volunteers average 10 hours per month on a case, and most work full time at other jobs. Watts said volunteers can work on their own schedules but they do have to attend court hearings.

For more information or to volunteer, call the CASA office in Pampa at 669-7638 or call Ann Huey at 570-9268. Donations to CASA of the High Plains can be sent to PO Box 604, Pampa, TX 79065.