Lincoln County man named CASA Volunteer of the Month for seven-county region

A Lincoln County man has been named a CASA Volunteer of the Month for the seven-county region served by CASA of Lexington.

Jim Luhmann had volunteered in a different way in Colorado before his family moved to Kentucky. Once they moved here, “I began looking around for other opportunities to serve, as I believe my Christian religion calls me to serve others,” he said.

Directly across the street from his church in Stanford is the Lincoln County Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program office, which caught his attention. Then, he wound up golfing with someone familiar with CASA, who really filled him in.

“It sounded like something I could do to help children caught up in the legal system,” Luhmann said.

CASA volunteers like Luhmann are regular citizens who give 5 to 10 hours a month to visit with an abused or neglected child, learn about their life, and give the information they gather to the family court judge on the child’s case. Each volunteer receives 30 hours of training and is supported by Lincoln County’s CASA Volunteer Manager Jennifer Lamb.

“I enjoy working with the kids and helping to find ways to improve their educational experience,” Luhmann said. “I also enjoy helping their parent find programs and services for the children and get help they need through various government programs.”

Lamb, who nominated Luhmann to be Volunteer of the Month, said he has been instrumental in providing information to the court that has changed the trajectory of his children’s case.

“Jim is very thorough in looking into each child’s unique needs and his reports reflect that,” Lamb said. “The judge has even stated in court how much they learned from Jim’s reports.”

CASA volunteers can help the court system provide more effective services to help children and their families. And their monthly visits can give children hope and a positive adult role model in their lives.

Luhmann said seeing how much his input can help improve the children’s situation makes the time he invests worth it.

“I have encouraged friends to look into becoming a CASA advocate in their areas,” he said. “The experience can make a wonderful difference in your life, as well as the child’s.”

If you would like to learn more about Lincoln County’s CASA program or sign up to be a CASA volunteer, visit www.casaoflexington.org, email lincolncounty@casaoflexington.org, or call (606) 442-1355.

A summer training class for new CASA volunteers will be held at the Lincoln County CASA office in Stanford. Classes will be June 8, 9, 15 and 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and June 17 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. You can join the class by completing a volunteer application at www.casaoflexington.org/apply.