The following volunteers joined Dallas CASA in June and will advocate for abused and neglected children in Dallas County courts. Congratulations to our new volunteers!     

Ralph Armstrong ● Cecilia Bolen ● Vanessa Chew ● Lynn Clay ● Suzy Cox ● Charles Durtschi ● Joe Floriani ● Luisana Gamez ● Jessica Glitz ● Heather Goodstein ● Hallie Graves ● Whitney Hanlon ● Cori James ● Rhonessia Johnson ● Anamarie Joyce ● Shelly Kirkland ● Alexa LeBoeuf ● Lauren Lesch ● Shanta Malone ● John Martinez ● Laura Mendenhall ● Dorcas Nguyen ● Melanie O'Neal ● Francine Piagiotti ● Marsha Randall ● Jenny Reynolds ● J.J. Scott ● Christina Swisher ● Gwendolyn Terry ● Holly Webster ● Lisa Winkler

Dallas CASA volunteers got a chance to hear from their peers June 8 at a panel discussion of best practices for advocating for children in protective care. More than 40 volunteers attended this Q&A forum which allowed volunteers to discuss the best ways to provide critical advocacy for abused and neglected children. 

 

Our panelists Dail Mengelkoch, Samantha Durst, Claude Smith, Doug Bily, Sandra Burnon and J.W. Butts shared tips they have learned over their years volunteering for CASA on how to improve communication with CPS, how to interact with parents, how to build rapport and more. Here are some of their best tips:

• When trying to build rapport with foster parents, remain consistent and offer to meet them wherever is most convenient for them (home, restaurant, park, etc.). -Samantha
• If a parent's attorney needs information that you can provide to encourage reunification, you can help them get the facts they need...Just remember that your job is to focus on the child, not the parent. -J.W.
• Remember that CPS caseworkers often are overloaded with cases and stretched to complete their work. Approach them kindly and let them know you want to help.-Claude
• When it comes to working with any of the parties on your case, remember that it's important to build positive relationships in order to best serve your child. You'll attract more bees with honey than with vinegar. -Dail
• Try to be the one with the most complete information on the case. Share your information so that others know you are there to help get the job done. -Sandra
• Remember that school teachers can be a great source of information on how a child is doing. -Doug

Thanks to the positive response from those in attendance, another panel discussion will be held before the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this event a successful evening.

Dallas CASA's dream for a new building is on its way to becoming a reality, and that's thanks to one of the agency's most committed corporate partners, the Archon Group, L.P.

 

"Our friends at Archon have provided such wisdom throughout the entire due diligence process, and we could not be more excited to embark on this journey," Executive Director Beverly Levy said. "It really does take our entire community working together to keep children safe from harm, and Archon has led the way in making it possible to do that even better in the future."

 

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, Archon brought together a team of real estate investment experts to help make the process of purchasing land for a new home for CASA more efficient. Two years ago, Archon's team began working with CASA board and staff leaders to help locate a site and negotiate the purchase.  

 

Once the site at 2715 Swiss Avenue had been chosen, several divisions of the Archon group came together to complete a due diligence process that would ensure it would be the ideal setting for Dallas CASA. The purchase of the land and a small building situated there were made possible by generous gifts from The Rees-Jones Foundation and an anonymous donor. Archon Group donated new furniture to allow the current facility to be used as an interim training center until construction on Dallas CASA's new home is complete. 

 

Once the building process begins, Archon's team of real estate experts will help CASA manage the project from the first turn of dirt to the laying of the final brick.

 

"Archon has historically been very successful helping CASA by providing volunteers and fundraising," said David Bell, who led the team from Archon in the due diligence process. "With our involvement in the new headquarters building, Archon can now help CASA by using its real estate expertise."

 

Bell said the work toward the new building has been a refreshing collaboration bringing together experts who care about the future of Dallas CASA and the children it serves.

 

"When you go to a meeting with CASA, you are greeted with a hug and a very warm welcome ... sometimes even milk and cookies," he said. "It's a refreshing perspective. If CASA can help more children because we're helping them manage the development of a new building, I'm all for it."

 

 

Since the 1980s, when Dallas CASA was known as FOCAS (Foster Child Advocate Services), the Junior League of Dallas began providing funding for agency operations and volunteers to Dallas CASA.  

 

In 2007, the League began providing critical support specifically designated to support a full-time staff person to recruit CASA volunteer advocates. Because of the League's support, 1,000 potential volunteers have been interviewed since then leading to the swearing in of more than 800 volunteers.  

 

Each potential volunteer must be carefully screened before they can enter the rigorous training program. After attending a one-hour orientation, volunteers then are interviewed personally about their interest and to make sure being a CASA volunteer is a good fit for the individual. Thanks to the Junior League's support, Dallas CASA is able to make sure that each volunteer understands the unique role of a CASA volunteer in the life of an abused child.

 

"We at the Junior League of Dallas are so impressed by the work of Dallas CASA volunteers who make sure abused and neglected children have a voice in court and who provide a consistent adult presence for each child," said the Junior League President Susan Wells. "The volunteer coordinator is integral to recruiting volunteers to serve children, and I'm proud of our efforts to provide funding for full-time volunteer coordinators to non-profits in our community. We congratulate Dallas CASA on this accomplishment."