UK Law student helps children, gains court experience by serving as a CASA volunteer

CASA Volunteer Taylor Clark

Taylor Clark will soon start her legal career as an associate attorney at the Lexington law firm Jackson Kelly. But she will already have around two years of experience in court when she walks in the door on her first day.

That’s because Clark serves as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. She is matched with abused and neglected children in the family court system and advocates for their needs, helping them gain much-needed services and stability.

“I wanted to be involved with something in law school that would get me out of the classroom, get my mind off of class and give me a sense of purpose,” Clark said. “There was a lunch panel discussing pro-bono work and one of the presenting organizations was CASA. I instantly connected with CASA’s mission and knew that I wanted to become a volunteer.”

Because of her excellent work advocating for the children on her cases, CASA of Lexington named Clark a Volunteer of the Month for April 2023.

Clark has made a huge impact on the children she advocates for, said Rebecca Brereton-Farr, Clark’s Volunteer Manager who nominated her for Volunteer of the Month.

“She has been such a valuable addition to these kids’ lives. If you asked them for a list of their best friends, they would include Taylor,” Brereton-Farr said. “There is no doubt in my mind that 30 years from now, these children will still think of Taylor and the way she impacted their lives for the better.”

“While Taylor is an exceptional advocate, it is not out-of-the-ordinary for people from younger generations who are interested in making things better to sign up and become CASA volunteers,” said Melynda Jamison, Executive Director of CASA of Lexington. “More than one in three of our CASA volunteers are Millennials or part of Gen Z. These younger volunteers aren’t waiting for others to make the world better — they’ve seen the problem and they’re choosing to be part of the solution.”

Kentucky has one of the worst rates of child abuse and neglect in the nation. In CASA of Lexington’s seven counties alone, there were nearly 1,600 children with new family court cases in 2022.

CASA volunteers, who must be at least 21 years old, volunteer 5-10 hours a month on average. Each volunteer visits the child on their case monthly, talks to adults in the child’s life, reviews records and writes reports for the judge on the case.

Children who receive a CASA volunteer do better in school, receive more services, have more hope for their future and are less likely to re-enter the foster system after their cases close.

“I absolutely love CASA and I’m grateful to be a volunteer,” Clark said. “I say to everyone in school that there is no better way to work your advocate muscle than to become a CASA. I wish more people would become a volunteer so every child has a CASA.”