Spirit of appreciation
Yumans honored for volunteer work with CASA of Yuma County
Three Yuma community members were recently recognized for their devoted volunteer work with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Yuma County, an affiliate of the National CASA Association which recruits and trains volunteers to represent children who have been abused, neglected and placed in foster care in courtrooms and other settings.
On Tuesday, the organization presented the CASA of the Year Award to Jerry Durden, the Rookie of the Year Award to Nancy Bornt and the Judges Award to Barbara Lagen.
While the awards are historically part of an annual banquet to recognize the work of volunteers, this year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19. However, with a little brainstorming, CASA of Yuma County coordinator Veronica Davis organized a “drive-by celebration” to keep the spirit of appreciation alive.
“We wanted to still present those awards because they still did the work and earned that recognition from last year,” she said. “So we wanted to still recognize them and let them know how appreciative we are. These volunteers stood out because they’ve kept us in the loop as far as, ‘Here’s what’s going on (with our cases), here’s what I think I can do to help, how else can we assist this child?’”
According to Davis, because of the nature of many of their cases, the work of CASA volunteers is an intense and emotional undertaking. After being appointed by a judge, volunteers are expected
to remain involved in their cases until its resolution — which means the child or sibling group is either reunified with their parents, placed in a guardianship with other family members or close friends, adopted, or ages out of foster care.
“In order just to be a CASA volunteer, you deserve an award, end of story,” Davis said. “This is above and beyond any other volunteer position I can think of, because the issues that we’re dealing with are pretty severe and pretty intense. A lot of our parents and even our children, aside from the fact that they’ve been neglected, have possibly been physically and/or sexually abused, they may have witnessed domestic violence in the home, they may have engaged in domestic violence. Substance abuse is also very huge in child abuse cases. So these children that we deal with have all suffered trauma on some level or another (and) it’s very emotional, dealing with these children and trying to understand where they’re coming from.”
One of CASA’s primary goals is to transition children from foster care to a safe, stable, permanent and loving home where they can thrive. In order to do this, it takes volunteers like Yuma County’s Durden, Bornt and Lagen “sticking with it” amid challenges, working to make significant impacts and advocating for the needs and best interests of the children they represent.
“All of them have had to offer some really hard suggestions and recommendations to the judge and to the Department of Child Safety in regards to what’s in the best interest of the children,” Davis said. “You gotta be pretty strong to stand up in court. There’s attorneys and there’s parents who are glaring at you from the other side and there’s the judge in that black robe — it can be very intimidating. But even though they’re trembling in their boots, they put all of that aside to stand up and say, ‘This is what I know and this is what I feel is best for the child based on the facts that I have.’”
It’s also the trio’s determination to ensure that their children are receiving the best possible care and services, as well as being a pillar of stability and tenacity, that cause them to stand out as award recipients.
“CASA volunteers spend the most time with the child,” Davis said. “They may have one child or one sibling group, while everyone else in the system has 10, 15, 20 or more and doesn’t have the opportunity to give that individual, specialized attention. Our volunteers really get to know the child to the point that they literally are the voice of the child in the courtroom.”
CASA of Yuma County is currently recruiting additional volunteers to advocate for children in foster care. To learn more, visit CASAofYumaCounty.org or call 928-314-1830.