Lexington woman helps kids and their families as a CASA volunteer

CASA Volunteer of the Month Kim Mosley

Kim Mosley stays pretty busy as a wife of 43 years, a mom to five, a grandmother to 11 and a great-grandmother to three. But she also makes time to help other children as a CASA volunteer.

Mosley knew about CASA when her family moved to Kentucky because she had been an advocate for abused and neglected children in Florida. Then one day, she was volunteering at her church, and she encountered a woman who was fostering three children.

The foster mom was struggling to navigate the foster care and family court systems. “I asked, ‘Do you have a CASA?’” Mosley said. “She said, ‘What is that?’”

That conversation got Mosley thinking about becoming an advocate once again – this time in Kentucky.

“Just watching this mom go through the system with no help was heart-breaking,” she said. “I looked it up, found CASA of Lexington. I gave them a call and they were ready right away to train me.”

Mosley said she was very impressed with the training and support she found when she joined CASA of Lexington – both far exceeded what she experienced in Florida.

“I just think the staff at CASA of Lexington that supports me has been phenomenal,” she said. “That makes a big difference that I have someone I can go to.”

CASA volunteers like Mosley complete a 30-hour training class and then are matched with abused and neglected children with open family court cases. Each volunteer visits their CASA child monthly, gathers information about the child’s life, and provides information to everyone working the case that helps ensure better outcomes for the child.

For Mosley, one of her favorite things about the volunteer job is interacting with the kids.

“Being able to encourage them and watch their faces light up – that makes a big difference to me,” she said. “I don’t know if they get words of encouragement very much.”

Mosley has done such a good job advocating for nine children over the past year and a half that her Volunteer Manager Holly LaFavers nominated her to be a CASA Volunteer of the Month.

“Kim takes ownership and leaves no stone unturned for her CASA kids,” LaFavers said. “Her CASA children are a priority for her.”

Mosley said serving as a CASA volunteer can be heart-breaking when cases don’t go how she hopes, but it is also incredibly rewarding.

“The kids need to be heard,” she said. “They need somebody who is there just for them. That is what CASA volunteers get to do.”

If you would like to learn more about being a CASA volunteer, visit www.casaoflexington.org.