Enotah CASA looking for volunteers to help kids

Della Lago calls them the quiet superheroes.
These are the local volunteers who give their time and energy to Enotah CASA, a regional division of the Georgia State Court Appointed Special Advocate Association.
And right now, the non profit organization is in need of a few more heroes.
“Just imagine, in Lumpkin County we’ve advocated for over 50 children, just in this county. And we’re not that big,” said the Executive Director of Enotah CASA. “But we still have probably 10 or 12 children that still need an advocate in Lumpkin County … We want these kids to be around the adults in their community that will advocate for them and really do what’s best."
Recently Lago sat down with The Nugget to explain how the child advocacy system in Lumpkin County works, as well as to discuss the positive impact that local volunteers can make in the lives of at-risk children in the community.
It’s a service that often goes unnoticed in the community. And that’s by design.
“It’s such a high calling,” she said. “It’s such a noble thing. And they do not get recognized for it. These are really the quiet superheroes. Because you can’t really show the kids, or brag about what happened, and how great you were. You have to nuance it because of the privacy for these children and families.”

BEHIND THE SCENES

Lago has nearly 30 years of combined experience as a non-profit administrator, working for churches, Christian schools and free clinics.
She joined the Enotah CASA in 2019, but she was familiar with the organization before then.
“I had known about CASA when I went through Leadership Lumpkin in 2011. And so that was what really got me excited about CASA, was learning about the different non-profits.”
Lago said that she thought the organization had “the neatest model” for matching up volunteers with kids in need of support.

SAVING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

Although Enotah CASA volunteers are advocates in court proceedings, they do not work for, or with, the government.
“We partner with the court system, and we have what’s called Memorandums of Understanding … When we sign these [MOUs], what we’re saying is ‘We will abide by the law.’ The law requires, in the state of Georgia, that every child that is in dependency (comes into foster care) is assigned a GAL (Guardian ad Litem) or a CASA,” Lago explained.
Lago said that a GAL could be an attorney, but in those instances the relevant county government is on the hook for the attorney’s billable hours and travel expenses.
“So when you’ve got a Court-Appointed Special Advocate that’s a volunteer, and they’re the ones that are visiting the child each month and making the phone calls … we are saving the county and the circuit hundreds of thousands of dollars,” she added.
Lago said that, excluding July’s figures, Enotah CASA has saved the four counties in the Enotah Circuit a total of $600,000 over the last fiscal year.
“In Lumpkin County, our advocates drove over 11,000 miles in the fiscal year and spent 1,400 hours advocating. That’s a lot of time. So if you can imagine, you would be paying an attorney for those hours and miles. That’s how we calculate the savings,” she said.
Lago stressed that the benefits of the CASA system are not merely financial. She said statistical analyses conducted at the national level suggest that children with a CASA advocate in their corner achieve permanence faster, and even have better educational and medical outcomes, than those who do not.
“They’re re-entries into foster care are lower. And that’s, we believe, because of the comprehensive approach that our advocate takes. Once that CASA is assigned to volunteer, when a child is taken into care, they literally walk with that child through the entire process,” she said.
Lago said that the consistency of CASA advocacy also plays a key role in its success.
“The attorney may change, the case worker is probably going to change through DFCS, their placement in school is going to change … But who stays with them from beginning to end? It’s that CASA volunteer. So that continuity is just critical,” she said.
Lago also made it clear that CASA advocates do not make any legal decisions on behalf of a child.
“So you’ve got an attorney for the mother, an attorney for the father, an attorney for the state and an attorney for the child. So if the child says, ‘I want to go to bed at midnight every night and then eat brownies every morning, and that’s what I want,’ then that’s what their lawyer is going to say. But the CASA is going to say, ‘We do not think this is in the best interest of the child.’ That’s all. We present information,” she said.

MONEY MATTERS

While all of the child advocates are volunteers, Enotah CASA has a paid staff of seven permanent employees who handle training and administrative duties. Some of the money for operating costs comes from government grants, while the rest is raised from individual and business donors.
“Because of the work that we do, we are approved as a Victim Services agency. So what that means is that we have access to apply for grants through the Victims of Crime Act,” Lago explained.
In addition, Enotah CASA applies for an annual federal grant called PSSF (Providing for Safe and Stable Families), as well as appealing to various local agencies.
“The Rotary Clubs here are very generous with us [as well as] the churches [and] the County. Those types of support, as well as our fundraising efforts, is what allows us to have the paid staff,” Lago said.
One of the group’s major fundraisers is the annual Sorghum Festival in Blairsville, which takes place the second and third weekends in October.

NEW RECRUITS

Lago told The Nugget that despite all of the progress that local volunteers have made, there is definitely a need for additional assistance from the community.  And she lamented the fact that there has been “a nationwide reduction in volunteerism” since COVID.
“We know the children who have a CASA advocate are going to do better than the children who don’t. So that’s why we’re so passionate. We want every child to get one, not just some. How do you choose? We still need people to step up,” she said.
Lago explained that, while there is an initial commitment required for new advocate training, the remainder of the CASA process is not as time-consuming as folks might imagine.
“It takes 30 hours of in-class training and 10 hours of court observation, so that’s a 40-hour educational commitment,” Lago said.
There is also some initial research to be done to familiarize an advocate with a child’s case. After that, the advocate’s obligation is to visit the child at least once a month and then appear in court every three months when they have a hearing.
“But we’ve polled folks that work full-time and they tell us that they average between four to six hours a month,” Lago added. “So most people say, ‘Look, if I go do anything else it’s going to probably be more than that."
Lago said the most common refrain she hears from citizens hesitant to volunteer is that they are afraid of becoming emotionally involved with a child’s case, but she said those are exactly the type of folks CASA is counting on.
“I get people who say ‘I couldn’t do it. If I find out a child’s hurting it’s just going to break my heart, or I’m going to want to take them all home, or I’ll get over-involved.’ Okay. We want you. We’re going to train you to understand how best to help that child,” she said.

STEPPING UP

Advocate Jill Pair happened to be visiting for a one-on-one meeting with Advocate Supervisor Katie Dunlap when The Nugget stopped by the CASA office.
“I think it’s really important to help the children,” Pair said of her experience volunteering for CASA. “It makes you feel good to be doing that. They didn’t ask to be put into that situation, and I think that they deserve every opportunity to succeed and to grow and have a good life.”
Pair also said she believes it’s important to keep children and their parents together, if at all possible.
“The parents, that’s what they want, too. And hopefully they’re going to have every opportunity to do what’s right and get their children back,” she said.
Lago added that when a child calls their CASA, they will always get an answer.
“They know Jill’s not paid to come see them,” she said. “They know she’s there because she really cares. And that’s why we do it; it makes a huge difference.”

HELPING THE CAUSE

Residents can find out about the ways that they can get involved by visiting enotahcasa.org and clicking on the tab that says “How to Help.”
Anyone interested in learning about becoming a child advocate can select “Volunteer” from the dropdown menu. To contribute financial support to the organization, select “Donate.” Finally, clicking the “Becoming an Ambassador” tab offers access to other volunteer opportunities within the organization.
In other words, it doesn’t take much to be a real superhero to a local child in need.