Lincoln CASA volunteers honored with Serve Kentucky Awards
Six CASA volunteers were honored at the Lincoln County Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday for giving hundreds of hours to help abused and neglected children.
Each of the six received a Serve Kentucky Award signed by the commissioner of the Serve Kentucky Commission, the head of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and Gov. Andy Beshear. They earned the awards by volunteering for more than 100 hours each in 2025.
Lincoln County resident Priscilla Miller gave 754 hours last year — the most hours of any CASA volunteer in the seven-county region served by CASA of Lexington. She was named one of seven “Top CASA Volunteers” in the program, who each volunteered more than 300 hours in 2025.
The other five honored are Pat Bennett, Susan Maupin, Megan Huston, Ava Crow, and Anne Flynn.
Combined, the six live and/or serve children in Lincoln gave 1,595 hours last year.
The Serve Kentucky Volunteer Recognition Program is a partnership among the Office of the Governor, AmeriCorps, and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. It recognizes volunteers who make a difference by giving their time within the state of Kentucky.
CASA volunteers are matched with children in the family court system who have been abused or neglected. Each volunteer visits their CASA child at least monthly, gathers information about the child’s life, provides reports to the judge on the child’s case, and speaks up if the child needs something they aren’t getting.
Lincoln’s CASA program used 9 volunteers to serve 16 children in 2025. CASA’s Executive Director Melynda Jamison said that represents an estimated 6 percent of all the children who have open abuse or neglect cases in Lincoln County.
"We want to see that number increase,” she said. “But when we picked up this county, that number was 0 percent. So six is better than zero."
Jamison said six out of nine CASA volunteers earning Serve Kentucky Awards is by far the best percentage in any of the program’s seven counties.
Children who receive CASA volunteers can do better in school, receive more services ordered by the judge, and be far less likely to be abused or neglected again.
Jamison said more Lincoln County volunteers are needed to help the estimated 250 children with open cases in Lincoln. Serving as a CASA volunteer is something almost anyone can do, she added.
"We have great people to help you. You just have to have a heart for children and want to make a difference,” she said.
It takes about 5 to 10 hours a month to serve as a CASA volunteer. If you are interested in becoming a CASA volunteer, supporting the Lincoln County CASA program or learning more about what CASA volunteers do, visit www.casaoflexington.org.