Scott County CASA volunteers earn Presidential Volunteer Service Awards
Eight Scott County CASA volunteers have been honored for earning the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.
Scott Judge-Executive Joe Pat Covington, Georgetown Mayor Burney Jenkins and Family Court Judge William J. Fooks presented the awards during the Bourbon County Fiscal Court Meeting Friday.
Together, the eight volunteers gave 1,525 hours to their work with the Scott County CASA program in 2023, advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the Scott County Family Court system.
Seven of the volunteers gave more than 100 hours each and received the Bronze PVSA: Deborah Birdwhistell, Bev Chandler, Stephanie Deahl, Roxana del Campo, Carrie Gordy, Kim Lyon and Debbie Rurik-Goodwin.
One volunteer invested more than 250 hours and received the Silver PVSA: Cynthia Phillips.
Phillips has been a CASA volunteer for around 16 years – longer than there has been a CASA program in Scott County, said Melynda Jamison, Executive Director. Phillips began volunteering with the Fayette County CASA program in the 2000s. She was thrilled when the CASA program expanded to serve Scott in 2020, Jamison explained.
Phillips received a standing ovation when she received her award.
The volunteers each received a pin or medallion based on the level of their award, a certificate, and a letter of thanks signed by the U.S. President.
CASA volunteers are matched with children in the family court system who need an advocate. Each volunteer visits their child monthly, talks to adults in their child's life and reviews medical and educational records. While volunteers can go above and beyond like the PVSA recipients, on average a CASA volunteer contributes between 5 and 10 hours a month.
CASA volunteers' reports help family court judges make more informed decisions and can lead to improved outcomes for children, including more services they need to thrive and shorter times in the system.
In Scott County in 2023, there were 284 new cases of child abuse or neglect and likely more than 560 children with open family court cases. The 69 children served by Scott County’s 29 volunteers represent about 12% of the total children with cases.
“I think that’s staggering. We don’t often hear about it with family court being closed, but we at CASA are working to break that cycle,” Jamison said. “We can only do that work with the volunteers. So they are really the lifeblood of our organization.”
Jamison thanked Scott County and Georgetown officials for funding the CASA program, making it possible for so many children’s lives to be changed.
Covington said he was glad to be honoring the “CASA dream team” and local officials appreciate everything the CASA program does for abused and neglected children.
“This is a team approach with the city and the joint funding is what makes it happen,” Covington said.
Anyone interested in becoming a CASA volunteer can email scottcounty@casaoflexington.org or call (502) 519-7122 for more information. A regional training for new volunteers will be held in Lexington June 24-28. You can see the schedules for all upcoming trainings at www.casaoflexington.org/training.