CASA of Carson City—882-6776

Speak Up For A Child.

Abuse and Neglect In Our Town

Violence against children. Often, it takes several things, acting together, to overwhelm parents so that they abuse or neglect children. No parent is perfect. But when patterns of behavior become too extreme, children can become unsafe.

 

How Many Kids? CASA of Carson City currently has over 25 volunteers advocating for roughly 50 children.

 

What can you do? First and foremost, recognize that it can and does happen here. Anyone can report abuse and neglect by calling the Sheriff or the Division of Child And Family Services--775 687-4943 or 1-800-992-5757. Sometimes you need to call with each incident. Once abuse and neglect is substantiated by DCFS, it can provide referrals and services to a family or, in the worst cases, remove the child.

 

What else can you do? Doctors, teachers, social workers, therapists and other professionals in the community are often involved in trying to help families. Others can volunteer. There are many ways to volunteer to help children. The Mentor Center at WNCC needs mentors to do hands-on activities with children—call 445-3346. The state needs adoptive and foster homes—call 888 423-2659. And CASA of Carson City needs CASA volunteers.

 

CASA is part of the community’s response. The CASA volunteer tal to everyone in the case. The volunteer writes a report to the court every three months, speaks in court, advocates in court and advocates out of court. The law’s description of the volunteers duties is on this web site—see the link at left.

 

Because We Care. Children always need an advocate. Usually it’s their parent(s). But when parents are not doing the job because they are having difficulties, children still need someone to speak up for them. Abused and neglected children especially need this voice. They are in the local shelter or in a foster home. They have a range of excellent professionals—the social worker, teacher, case manager, attorney, judge, therapist—all dealing with a portion of their lives. And they need someone who looks at the whole picture, who helps the left hand to know what the right hand is doing.

 

It Makes A Difference. It’s interesting. It’s sometimes heartbreaking. It’s rewarding. It is important. It makes a difference for children.