'The voice for children': CASA of Portage County swears in new volunteers
For Janene Jones, the decision to become a volunteer advocate for children involved in abuse and neglect cases was very personal.
Jones said she was drawn to Court Appointed Special Advocates of Portage County (CASA) because she wished someone had been able to help her and her sister when they were growing up in an abusive situation.
When she heard about the program from her husband, she was immediately on board.
"My sister and I, when we were younger, we used to say that we're always going to grow up and do something to help children," she said.
Jones described the feeling of being able to now advocate for someone whose childhood circumstances might mirror her own as priceless.
CASA grew its ranks of volunteers this week, bringing the total number to 28 countywide.
Jones, along with fellow volunteers June Futia and Jennifer Gregory, were sworn in Monday in Portage County Juvenile Court. Juvenile Judge Patricia Smith administered the oath.
A fourth graduate of CASA's pre-service training, Patricia Morgan, will be sworn in on Wednesday.
They are now tasked with advocating on behalf of children caught in the county's court system.
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Gregory said that she was drawn to the idea of volunteering for CASA out of a desire to stick up for the best interests of children.
"A lot of times, when you're a child, you don't have a voice," Gregory said. "I've always tried to be the voice for children."
Before being sworn in, potential volunteers are required to complete 30 hours of pre-service training, during which they learn how to use information about a child's circumstances in order to determine the best course of action for the juvenile they're representing.
"That includes looking at school records.I could be counseling and treatment records, medical records. We're also looking at the parents' backgrounds, their records," said Ann Walden, executive director of CASA of Portage County.
Futia said the in-service training was an insightful experience.
"It was very eye opening in terms of case studies we did as well as just background information on what to expect," she said.
In some instances, she said, children in a bad home life still will resist being separated from their parents.
The ceremony was attended by volunteer's family members and State Representative Gail Pavliga, who worked alongside Smith to get the CASA program up and running in Portage County.
After being sworn in, volunteers are required to take 12 hours of annual in-service training.
Since the first volunteers joined the program in March, CASA of Portage County has been able to help 32 juveniles navigate the court system.
"I cannot tell you how much CASA volunteers have assisted us in making appropriate decisions," Smith said. "We are so grateful for you volunteering to do this and going through all the training."
The agency is always in need of volunteers. According to Smith, the juvenile court is seeing an average of three new cases per week.
"We have over 300 dependency, neglect and abuse cases in this court, and each one has at least one child," she said.
Anyone older than 21 can start the process of becoming a volunteer by reaching out to Executive Director Walden at awalden@portageco.com or 330-298-3910.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: 'Voice for children': Portage Juvenile Court welcomes new advocates
