This past Friday, RCSE enjoyed a very informative and thought provoking presentation from Kate Blair who is the Executive Director of Brightside Child and Family Advocacy (also known as Savannah CASA). Before Kate presented, President Laura Lane reminded everyone of the annual RCSE Oyster Roast which is scheduled for Saturday, February 26th.
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a national association in the United States that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. CASA are volunteers from the community who complete 40 hours of training. In Savannah, there are 180 volunteers but they are still looking for more, especially male volunteers. The CASA is appointed to a child in the foster care system. Currently, there are 350 children in foster care in Savannah. They meet with everyone who might touch the child and then make recommendations to the judge as to what they think is in the best interest of the child. About 50% of the children in foster care are reunited with their parents.
After 30 years of providing advocacy to thousands of children in foster care, Savannah CASA is evolving to serve more families and children in crisis. Under the new name Brightside Child & Family Advocacy, the organization will provide a wide range of services aiming to prevent child abuse and neglect in Chatham County. One example of this is a new supervised visitation center for children and parents. The new home-like supervised visitation facility will provide a welcoming environment for families in the area who are working towards reunification. To learn more about this organization, please visit https://www.savannahcasa.org/brightside.html