19 new CASA volunteers sworn in at courthouse

CASA is pleased to announce that 19 new volunteers were sworn in as officers of the court by 4th Judicial District Judge William Bain during a swearing-in ceremony at the El Paso County Courthouse on Monday.

Sixteen of these community members will be Court Appointed Special Advocates (or CASAs) in CASA’s Dependency & Neglect program, and three of the new volunteers will be Facilitators in CASA’s Supervised Exchange & Parenting Time (SEPT) program.

For the 16 advocates, the swearing-in ceremony was the final step taken after 30 hours of training which covered topics like trauma, resiliency, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and the role of the CASA volunteer.

Now, these 16 volunteers will be appointed to open Dependency & Neglect cases by a judge so that they may speak up for abused or neglected children and ensure that each child’s best interest remains front and center during court proceedings. These volunteers will be a steady and trusted presence for children who, due to no fault of their own, must navigate the child welfare system.

Congratulations new Court Appointed Special Advocates Ronald Arbour, Donald Campbell, Sherry Carr, Juan Flores, Paul Gilbert, Elmer Harris, Susan Holt, Louis “Brian” Maecker, Andrew Mullins, Paul Reilly, Cheryl Reinhardt, George “Rob” Roy, Teresa Russell, Dylan Salinas, Jennifer Schroeder, and Katherine Walusiak.

The three new SEPT Facilitators are Yunus Bolat, Russel van Duyne, and Brenda Bishop. These folks were sworn in after completing 15 hours of training. As volunteers, they will make it possible for children to visit with non-custodial parents when there is a court order in place for those visits to be supervised.

CASA is actively recruiting new volunteers to fill these roles. Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a CASA volunteer should attend an upcoming Volunteer Information Session. RSVPs are required. The next available sessions are:

  • Jan. 5 from 12-1 in person at the CASA office
  • Jan. 25 from 12-1 over Zoom

To RSVP for any of these sessions, please visit www.casappr.org.