CASA Volunteer Dashboard

Optima is our case management database, where you maintain your case notes and log your volunteer hours. CASA of Lexington is funded in part based on the number of volunteer hours contributed each year, so logging the hours you spend volunteering is essential for our nonprofit to continue operating. If you need assistance working inside Optima, please contact your Volunteer Manager. Click below to view the contact log activity log codes you should use in Optima. You can also download a Word document with these codes listed if you prefer.

  • Information About Court to Child or Caregivers (A1): Telling child or caregivers about court times, dates, and steps in neglect/abuse case.
    Information About Victim’s Rights (A2): Providing Crime Victims Compensation at initial home visit to placement
    Assessment of Service Needs (A4): Gathering information to support specific recommendations for services and supports addressing the well-being of the child.
    Referral to Services (A4): Making recommendations for services on behalf of the child, such as extracurricular activities, medical exams, therapy, etc. Connecting caregivers to resources for the benefit of the child.
    Contact with Caregivers (A4): Any contact or communication with caregivers.
    Contact with Bio Parents (A4): Any contact with biological parents, all of which helps to inform recommendations about return to parent, visitation etc. like helping a parent connect to parenting classes.
    Case Research (A4): Gathering information about the case by reading court records, cabinet case file, etc.
    Court Report Writing (A4): Volunteer’s independent time writing court report to advocate for child’s best interests.
    Attending Court (B4): Advocating for the child’s best interests in court.
    Contact with CASA Supervisor (B4): Any case-specific contact with supervisor or CASA staff
    Contact with Associated Party (B4): Sharing information and advocating for your child’s best interest with other professionals and parties. Any communication about your case or child with the caseworker, attorneys on the case, therapists, service providers, behavioral health providers, medical providers, family or extended family members, etc.
    IPR, Interested Party Review (B4): Attending an IPR at the DCBS office, Skype, or submitting info to CFCRB.
    Contact with School (B7): Educational advocacy for the child, attending an IEP meeting, communicating with a teacher, assisting youth with post-secondary schooling options, etc.
    Assisting Child with Employment (B7): Assisting older youth with employment.
    Interpreter Services (B10): Facilitating interpreter/translator services
    In-Person Contact with Child (C1): Face-to-face visit with child, any team meeting with child present
    Observation of Parent-Child Visit (C1): Face-to-face observation of a parent-child visit

Resources and Acronyms

The CASA of Lexington Resource Guide and Acronym List documents are updated regularly and provide you with essential information to understand terminology you encounter and find organizations and services that can help your child or child’s family members.

Continuing Education

CASA advocates are required to obtain 12 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) every calendar year. Choose one of the options below to get started!

CASA of Lexington offers local continuing education classes or events throughout the year, and we identify trainings offered by other organizations in the community that count for CASA volunteer CEUs.

Recorded trainings, approved media lists, DEI trainings and much more.

 

Count Your CEU Hours in Optima to Receive Credit

You can log your CEU hours in Optima, just like you log your volunteer hours. Logging CEU hours requires uploading documentation. If you did not receive a certificate or other proof of completion (for example, watching a documentary or listening to a podcast), please use our certificate generator to create a PDF that can serve as the verifying documentation. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact your Volunteer Manager or email info@casaoflexington.org.

Recruiting More CASA Volunteers

Most of our CASA volunteers discovered CASA of Lexington thanks to friends or family members who told them about what we do. As a CASA volunteer, you are not only a ray of hope for your CASA child’s future, you represent the best chance we have of finding other volunteers to help more abused and neglected children.

Don’t worry — CASA of Lexington is here to support you and give you everything you need to help in recruitment efforts. Our One-to-One Volunteer Recruitment Campaign provides you with the tools and confidence you need! Check below for our campaign materials, information on our Volunteer Recruitment Advisory Committee and additional tools you can use to help us grow!

Join our Volunteer Recruitment Team: Members of the VRT help us staff recruitment events and connect CASA of Lexington staff with their communities so we can recruit more volunteers in targeted demographics where we are currently under-represented. You can sign up to participate by emailing info@casaoflexington.org.

CASA Zoom Backgrounds

You can download and use these images as your background for Zoom video meetings.

To use one of the images, follow these steps:

  1. Download the background to your computer.

  2. Open Zoom, then open preferences inside Zoom.

  3. Choose the “Background & Filters” tab, then click the plus sign right above the thumbnails of current background options.

  4. Select the image you downloaded (usually in your downloads folder).

Grief Care for CASA Volunteers

Active CASA of Lexington volunteers are eligible for up to 5 free grief counseling sessions through Bluegrass Care Navigators if anyone they know passes away. To use this benefit, contact Bluegrass Care Navigators at bgcarenav.org/grief or by calling (855) 492-0812 and let them know you are an active volunteer with CASA of Lexington.