ROCKDALE, Texas (KRHD) — The CASA of Milam County is in need of more advocates to assist with their caseload.
- The CASA of Milam County only has three advocates handling around 55 court cases with some involving multiple children.
- The organization advocates for children involved in the CPS or foster care system, visiting them at least once a month and speaking with family members with the goal of advocating for the child's best interest.
- Because of their caseload, Executive Director Rachel Owens and Advocate Trainer Lisa Cooper are taking on more than one case, which sometimes proves to be challenging.
- The group will host an informational meeting to recruit volunteers on Feb. 17 from 6-8 p.m. at their headquarters at 105 S. Main St. in Rockdale.
Brieanna spotlights the need for volunteers in this video:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"We have around 4,300 youth in Milam County and around 1,200 of those youth have been involved in the CPS system for one reason or another. That's very high. That's way too high," Rachel Owens said.
The CASA of Milam County has been trying to advocate for these children for nearly a year and a half.
"What we do is we visit with, you know, everybody involved in the case and not only do we advocate for the child, we also act as a buffer between, sometimes, CPS and the parents," Lisa Cooper, the advocate trainer, said.
But now, Executive Director Rachel Owens is sending out an SOS for volunteers.
"We are so short on advocates right now in our county for our kiddos," she said.
They only have three advocates.
"We probably have around 50, I think maybe 55 cases in the court system right now. Some of those cases have one kiddo and then some of them have nine," Owens said.
But their caseload keeps rising. The Milam County CPS Board helped about 159 kids last year.
"They are overwhelmed. They have more cases than that they have investigators and workers for also, especially being in the rural area that we are in, so having CASA is another set of eyes," Owens said.
It's forced her and Advocate Trainer Lisa Cooper to take on multiple cases themselves.
"Right now, I have three cases, and there's been some times that we, me and Rachel, have up to four, sometimes five," Cooper said.
They say more volunteers would help just taking on one case.
"It doesn't matter what your profession is, as long as you don't have any CPS history or any criminal history, then you're a candidate to be an advocate," Owens said.
"You don't have to have anything special other than that, just a desire to help our kids in our county who have not been protected by those who are supposed to protect them."
