CASA seeks more area volunteers to be positive force in lives of children

BENTONVILLE — Samuel Smith believes it’s rewarding to volunteer for Court Appointed Special Advocates of Northwest Arkansas, helping protect children in the region and making an impact on their lives.

Smith has been a CASA volunteer for about 10 months. He wanted to give back to his community somehow but didn’t know which avenue to take, he said.

“Friends who are closely connected to CASA introduced me to the organization, and I knew instantly that I wanted to get involved,” Smith said. “I started by simply raising money and then dove in and became an official CASA volunteer.”

CASA of Northwest Arkansas provides compassionate volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children and are committed to ensuring a consistent voice, safe home and promising future for children in foster care, according to the organization’s website.

The organization says it needs more volunteers. It is trying to add 30 volunteers by June 30 to advocate for children currently on the group’s waiting list as well as for children who have yet to come into foster care.

Smith said he encourages anyone interested in becoming a volunteer to attend a CASA 101 listening session.

“You’ll learn about how impactful CASA is to the community and the requirements to become a volunteer,” Smith said. “I work full time and was worried about my ability to fulfill my duties at home, at work, and as an advocate. However my family, manager and CASA supervisor have all been supportive and helped me navigate.”

Courtney Voigt, director of development and marketing for CASA, said the organization has 278 volunteers for Benton, Madison, Washington and Carroll counties. She said the group is seeking volunteers for each of those counties.

The organization was founded in 1997 in Northwest Arkansas, Voigt said. Benton County Circuit Judge Tom Smith said his goal is to have a CASA volunteer for each of his cases involving the Arkansas Department of Human Services. He said his court currently has 88 open cases.

He said recruiting new volunteers enables the court to keep assigning a volunteer to each case.

Smith said CASA volunteers help the court in knowing whether special services are needed for children. The services may concern mental health or medical treatment.

The judge said volunteers help coordinate information for the children’s attorneys and keep caseworkers informed about the children. He added volunteers are pivotal in helping the communication process for the foster care system.

Smith may assign multiple volunteers to work as a team if a case involves a family with multiple children. He said there are also occasions when a volunteer will have multiple cases.

Volunteers come from all walks of life, from people who work in a corporate environment to retired individuals, he said.

Smith said he knows of many cases in which volunteers continue to work with children after the case ends.

“I don’t think being a mentor stops,” he said. “I know cases where CASA volunteers have helped the kids, the parents and families after the cases were over.”

Voigt said volunteers are the only consistent adult figures in some of the children’s lives. She said they are looking for people of all ages.

She said they need volunteers to sign on for the start and end of cases. Volunteers must be willing to travel to see a child no matter where they are placed in the state.

CASA volunteers serve children in foster care and some of the kids in their region are placed with other family members, in foster care or a treatment facility, so volunteers must drive to visit the children.

Smith is a strong supporter of CASA and he encourages people to think about becoming a volunteer. He said he believes it’s very fulfilling for volunteers and they have a huge impact on the lives of children.

The judge said he’s aware of one case in which a volunteer has worked with a child for 10 years. That child is now a teenager.

Voigt said volunteers must be willing to drive two hours at least once a month so they can be a consistent adult in a child’s life.

“The biggest need is getting volunteers willing to go the distance and advocate for these children,” Voigt said.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can call (479) 725-2213 or send an email to info@nwacasa.org.

T. Smith