30TH ANNIVERSARY VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION - Allison Dent

Celebrating 30 Years on the 30th

Former Volunteer Allison Dent

CASA has always been a cause that is close to my heart. I first became involved with CASA around 2000. My family has always been proud community philanthropists and after I came home from college, I was expected to give back to my community. Being a recent college grad, my funds were lacking and I sure didn’t have anything extra to donate, so my family said I needed to donate my time. I researched a few area programs including CASA and after a brief discussion with Karen Biernacki, I knew CASA would be my cause!

I went through the training and was so excited to get started. I truly saw this program as something that would allow me to see immediate results of my work. In my capacity, I would interview caretakers, case workers, and service providers to give me a back story of what was really going on with the child I was charged with representing in court. My children were typically young and couldn’t physically speak for themselves. I would then write a report directly to the judge specifically on behalf of this child and what my thoughts were as to what should be recommended and provided for this child. Even though my clients were young, there are many in the system that are older and don’t have individual representation. CASA provides that voice in court which is neutral and not directed by any outside influences on what the needs and wishes of the child should be. We advocate only on behalf of the child.

CASA is a very important program to our community. They are always looking for volunteers as you can imagine. There are many children in the system that need representation. Our goal is to have a CASA for every child and we can’t do that without you. Please consider giving these children a voice in an otherwise bureaucratic and rather cumbersome system.”