CASA/GAL Receives Public Service Award!

The entire CASA of Franklin County family extends our heartiest congratulations to volunteer CASA/GAL Nancy Heller for her selection as a 2010 recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Award!

Named after President Thomas Jefferson, the award was created in 1972 by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Senator Robert Taft, Jr., of Ohio as a “Nobel Prize for public service.”


Nancy was chosen for this honor based on her volunteer efforts with both CASA-FC and with Zusman Community Hospice; efforts Nancy states, “are truly labors of love- I get so much more out of it than I feel I put in.”

Profiled recently in an edition of ThisWeek Community Newspapers, Nancy remembered her first CASA case fifteen years ago. The case involved a child who was dropped during a fight between the parents.

"My knee jerk was, 'How irresponsible, how could you do that to a 6-month-old child?' " Heller recalled.

Then the case was dropped by the prosecution fairly early on, and Heller began to question the use of even trying to be an advocate for those who can't speak for themselves in a system that operates that way. A more experienced member of the CASA team took her aside, Heller said. The attorney forced Heller to realize just how important it had been that she had spoken up in court for that infant's welfare.

"We do this because we really care about these children," Heller said.

"I'm the one constant person who sees them in their lives from month to month," she added. "They know who Miss Nancy is."

The Jefferson Awards are bestowed at both the national and local levels with the expressed mission of encouraging and honoring individuals for their achievements and contributions through public and community service. In central Ohio, the Jefferson Awards are sponsored and presented by WBNS 10TV and the Nationwide On Your Side Volunteer Network to recognize individuals who do extraordinary things in their communities without expecting a reward.

You can learn more about Nancy and this year’s other honorees during 10TV’s Award Special airing April 24th at 7:00pm.

Thank you Nancy and Congratulations!!

Awareness and Appreciation in April

In April , the Ohio Family Violence Prevention Center, in the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety,  recognizes Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month and National Crime Victims Rights Week (April 18-24, 2010). Here is a link to the website that has been developed for this month of awareness:


http://www.publicsafety.ohio.gov/NCVRW/home.htm

April is National Volunteer Month!

Upcoming In-service Trainings for Volunteers

CASA-FC is also excited to annouce three more in-service trainings for our volunteers:

Mandatory Annual April Trainings
Each Volunteer needs to attend one of these trainings.
Tuesday, April 13, 6:30-9pm (session full)
Thursday, April 15, 6:30-9pm
Saturday, April 17, 3-5:30pm (session full)
Tuesday, April 20, 6:30-9pm
Thursday, April 22, 6:30-9pm
Saturday, April 24, 3-5:30pm
Tuesday, April 27, 6:30-9pm
Thursday, April 29, 6:30-9pm
Saturday, May 1, 3-5:30pm

Sexual Abuse in Juvenile Abuse and Neglect Cases
Thursday, May 13, 6-8pm
This training will be located at The Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/ccfa).


Stewards of Children: Sexual Abuse Prevention
Thursday, June 17, 6:00-9:00pm  OR Saturday, June 19, 9:00pm–Noon
This training will be at the courthouse, presented by Child Protection Center of Ross County.

RSVP to these trainings by emailing akonarski@casacolumbus.org or calling Anne Konarski at 614.462.4885.

Do you have ideas for other subjects
you would like to see offered? 

Please let us know in the comments!

KURTZ CARES!

Attention Green Thumbs.

CASA of Franklin County has been approved to participate in the Kurtz Cares program!

Our account number is: Kurtz Cares 4

We have an opportunity to earn money for CASA of Franklin County with every retail purchase made at any Kurtz Bros location. All anyone needs to do is mention “CASA of Franklin County” and the account number (4) and say they would like Kurtz Cares to support our group at the time of purchase. That’s it!

Every three months Kurtz Bros will total all the sales and donate 10% of the proceeds to our organization. Participation is not limited to those of us affiliated with our CASA program -- anyone can mention our name and account number and we'll receive 10% of their retail purchase total as a donation to help support our child advocacy.

To help spread the word, please forward copies of this letter to your friends, family and co-workers. Attached the information to your email signatures, post it on your Facebook pages, publish it in newsletters, and post it on bulletin boards -- spread the word anyway possible! Additional information about this program can be found at the www.KurtzCares.com website.

Kurtz Bros has four landscape supply centers in Central Ohio (Dublin, Westerville, Groveport and Alexandria) and five in Northern Ohio (Valley View, Avon, Garfield Hts, Willowick and Independence.)

Kurtz Bros also has a Wholesale Nursery at their Westerville location that is open to the public. Purchases of nursery stock also count toward our donation total. Get more information on Kurtz Bros products, locations, hours and directions at www.kurtz-bros.com.

Please participate in the Kurtz Cares program and help to support CASA of Franklin County!

April Training

As you are aware, Rule 48 of the Ohio Rules of Superintendence necessitated changes at CASA of Franklin County. Our program and our volunteers must adhere to new standards regarding training, documentation and other best practices. Based on suggestions from our volunteer focus groups, our organization has also made changes to the volunteer monthly update form and annual evaluations. We have also changed our policies surrounding a new updated Volunteer Court Report. It is now our responsibility to train all of you on these changes. To do so, we have scheduled several in-service sessions during the month of April. Attendance is mandatory because Franklin County Domestic Relations court is requiring annual compliance documentation on all CASA volunteers.


The April trainings give volunteers the opportunity to complete the annual paperwork, receive new IDs, and to learn about new initiatives here at CASA of Franklin County that we are excited about sharing. Because attendance at one of the in-service sessions is required, we are offering a very flexible schedule. Trainings will be held after work hours (6:30-9pm) on designated Tuesdays & Thursdays and afternoons (3-5:30pm) on designated Saturdays in April. All trainings will be at the courthouse. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, April 13 6:30-9pm

Thursday, April 15 6:30-9pm

Saturday, April 17 3-5:30 pm



Tuesday, April 20 6:30-9pm

Thursday, April 22 6:30-9pm

Saturday, April 24 3-5:30pm



Tuesday, April 27 6:30-9pm

Thursday, April 29 6:30-9pm

Saturday, May 1 3-5:30pm



Rule 48 also requires that GALs complete a 3 hour training every year in one of the following five categories: Human Needs & Child Development, Communication & Diversity, Child Abuse Prevention, Family & Child Issues, and Legal Framework. Fortunately, for CASA GALs the 3 hour training also counts toward the 12 in-service hours required annually by National CASA Standards. Attendance at one of the April in-service sessions will satisfy the Rule 48, 3 hour requirement.

We must provide courthouse security with a list of attendees for each in-service session; so, please mark your calendars now for the date you can attend. You may RSVP by calling or e-mailing Anne Konarski at 614-462-4885 or akonarski@casacolumbus.org. Please RSVP no later than Friday, April 2, 2010.

We truly appreciate your cooperation and patience in accomplishing this monumental task.

T-Shirts!

It costs roughly $1,000 a year to advocate for an abused child in Franklin County, Ohio. And as you can imagine, this money can be hard to come by. For every one of our “CASA for Children” shirts you purchase, $5 will go directly to CASA of Franklin County. This money will help them recruit, screen, train and support community volunteers to be advocates for these neglected children, who are trapped in a heartbreaking situation through no fault of their own.

Click Here for More Information on Buying a Shirt

Volunteer Recognition

Save the Date!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

3-5pm at

King Arts Complex

We will be awarding our volunteers for their service!

Join us for this exciting afternoon.

Two Important Messages

 I am passing along important messages from OHIO CASA and the Supreme Court of Ohio.

As you are aware, Rule 48 of the Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Superintendence created new training requirements for attorney GALs and CASA/GALs. The Supreme Court of Ohio offers courses for Continuing legal Education (CLE) courses that fulfill this requirement for attorney GALs. These courses are designed with attorneys in mind and currently, there are very limited space in these classes for  attorney GALs.

The Supreme Court of Ohio has asked that CASA/GALS do not attend the CLE courses that they offer.  We ask you to respect this request from the Supreme Court and remind you that OHIO CASA and CASA of Franklin County will continue to offer courses that fulfill the annual 3 hour requirement for CASA/GALs.

We are holding several in-service trainings in April that will fulfill the Rule 48 requirements. Every volunteer will be required to attend at least one of these trainings. The trainings will offer complete updates on Rule 48, training on use of the new Court Report, an introduction to a revised Monthly Update form and the opportunity to sign all annual forms (which is also a requirement of Rule 48.)  You will hear more about the trainings in the very near future as we are still compiling all of the compliance information.

Additionally, we wanted to share more information about OHIO CASA. OHIO CASA is an excellent organization, and membership is open to our volunteers.

Membership is $25 dollars and the membership form is attached to this email.  Among many other benefits, OHIO CASA offers an e-newsletter and Volunteer Corner.   Our volunteer focus groups widely stated that volunteers would love a way to communicate with each other.   While the Volunteer Corner is not necessarily interactive, it is an excellent format for volunteers around the state to share their input and suggestions for dealing with situations that all CASA GALs may encounter in their role as a CASA Volunteer. This month’s question is:

 “What are the best methods you’ve found for dealing with a resistant information source (ex. Kin placement that doesn’t feel you should be intruding OR a therapist that doesn’t understand why you have access to information)?

Responses can be sent to andi@ohiocasa.org

All members will receive the e-newsletter from Ohio CASA.  If you are not ready to join, but would like to be on their mailing list, please contact OHIO CASA at ohiocasa@ohiocasa.org.

At CASA of Franklin County we are continually trying to be attentive to your wants and needs and this Volunteer Corner provides a way for volunteers to share experiences. 

Please contact us if you need more information on either of these topics.

Thank you again for all the work you do for abused and neglected children of Franklin County!