Upcoming Summer Training for ‘CASA’ Volunteers

One of our volunteers will soon attend the high school graduation of the foster child who she has helped the past year as his court-appointed special advocate.

In the fall, he will become among the fewer than 10 percent of foster children who go to college, which may not have happened if it wasn’t for our volunteer encouraging him to excel.

Court-appointed special advocates, known as “CASAs,” help foster children beat the odds and succeed. If you would like to learn more about CASA volunteers - or even how to become one – we invite you to attend the Open House at 6 p.m. on June 15 at our headquarters: 6811 Kenilworth Ave., Suite 402, Riverdale, Md.

We are Court Appointed Special Advocate/Prince George’s County, a nonprofit that since 2001 has recruited, trained and supervised CASAs for foster children, America’s most vulnerable boys and girls.

On Tuesday, July 18, we will begin new training for would-be CASA volunteers that will feature five weekday sessions, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and run through Aug. 3. Those assigned a youth 14 or older, must also attend a class set for Thursday, Aug. 17.

You will learn how to investigate a child’s well-being and report your findings and recommendations to a judge, who could order, for example, that the youngster be removed from a home or a school that you find to be unfit or even unsafe.

To apply to be a CASA volunteer and participate in the upcoming training, please contact Michelle Martin: (301) 209-0491, ext. 201, or at volunteer@pgcasa.org, or visit our website: www.pgcasa.org The application deadline is June 23.