Walmart believes in supporting nonprofits in the communities they serve. Just recently, Liberty County received this support when Walmart State Giving Grant awarded CASA of Liberty/Chambers Counties $25,000 for their FINDING FAMILY program.
- CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocate – recruits, trains and supports court appointed volunteers, equipping them to advocate for the underserved foster child. These CASA Advocates provide insight and an objective perspective not bound by restrictions that govern a CPS caseworker or attorney. They fiercely advocate to ensure that every child finds a safe, permanent and nurturing home – with their own families when possible, or if not, in adoptive families.
FINDING FAMILY is an extremely successful nationwide proven program designed to train qualified volunteer Advocates how to find families for the child who is labeled “unadoptable” in Foster care. The goal of CASA Liberty/Chambers Counties is to find a “Network for Life” for each and every child in Foster care. This could be a blood relative, distant kin, or an individual who will mentor and connect with the child. Senior Advocate Coordinator Kathy Dagle will spear head this endeavor with the assistance of volunteer Advocate Julia Jagnanan. They have built a program based off concepts and procedures that have had amazing success at Travis County CASA. First, Advocates or interested parties receive training on the concept originated from Kevin Campbell and Family Finding – step by step procedures and action items will be taught. Kathy and Julia have begun by identifying cases that would greatly benefit from the program and “mining” CPS records for names and information on family identified during their investigation. The next step will be to make contact with the individuals identified. Our volunteer Advocates will begin to put together a Family Tree with the children that they visit on a regular basis and their families. Once we have made contacts with those wanting to be a part of the child’s life, we will hold meetings and work toward building that network of support for our children.
All feel confident that the fine people of Liberty/Chambers will rally around this concept and stop pushing the child into a broken system resulting in havoc, crime and additional expense to tax payers when our justice system encounters them as broken adults. CASA believes they can find someone to assist with job skills or be a source of help when the need arises – perhaps an offer of a place to come home to for Christmas break while at college or job skill training or someone to share the child’s past history through pictures, recollections, and traditions. These “Network for Life” individuals will change the lives of foster care children; all made possible by the funding of the Finding Family program by the generous donations of Walmart State Giving Grant.
The Walmart Foundation’s $25,000 donation to CASA of Liberty/Chambers Counties is part of Walmart’s State Giving Program; they provide grants to 501C organizations in each state across the nation. Over the last fiscal year, Walmart gave 119 million in cash and in-kind donations throughout Texas. Walmart’s generous donation of $25,000 allows CASA an opportunity to change the lives of these youth – what an amazing gift to our community.
- If you are interested in becoming an Advocate, helping with Finding Family, or becoming a CASA Compadre simply call Debbie Dugger at 936-334-9000 or email her at ddugger@casalctx.org. CASA has scheduled several training classes over the next several months at the CASA office – 2015 Scout St (inside Trinity Lutheran Church) in Liberty.