March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and I have two facts to share about children and youth with special healthcare needs. Did you know that (1) they enter foster care at higher rates than their peers without special healthcare needs? And (2) they are more likely to have longer foster care stays and multiple placements?

Now for a much more encouraging fact. At CASA Lake County, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive in a nurturing and inclusive environment, regardless of their abilities or challenges. CASA volunteers can help ensure that children with special healthcare needs receive the specialized placements, support, services, and resources needed to thrive and to achieve permanency.

To our volunteers and donors, thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to our mission. Together, we can continue to make a profound and lasting impact in the lives of all children, including children with developmental disabilities. 

It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of our beloved Debby Parry. Debby began her CASA career as a volunteer in 2006, serving on three separate cases, which included 6 youth. In 2008, Debby joined the CASA staff as an Advocate Manager. Over the course of her time with CASA, she touched the lives of so many children and families. She oversaw 312 cases, which comprised 107 children and worked with 140 different CASA volunteers. Debby’s main focus was working with our teen population to ensure success as they transition to adulthood. She was credited with implementing the Fostering Futures curriculum for CASA Lake County. Debby was fiercely committed to CASA and her efforts didn’t stop at child advocacy; she actively assisted in holiday giving drives, agency events and assisting in the planning and organization of annual GALA celebrations. Debby had a larger-than-life personality and will be greatly missed.

We are grateful to Evereve Lake Forest for the fashion fundraiser hosted for CASA Lake County on Sunday, February 25th. 15% of purchases made that day (totaling $529.41) was donated to CASA. Thank you to all involved and all who shopped, for the support!

For the past 12 years, an anonymous donor within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley has made significant annual financial contributions to CASA Lake County. They have donated $457,138. Wow – we are incredibly grateful and acknowledge their generosity with a BIG thank you! The donor's commitment and dedication to our CASA program has helped us

donor.

In preparation for our April Child Abuse Prevention Awareness and Recruitment Campaign, we would love to hear from our CASA volunteers about how you fit being a CASA into your life. We would like to feature your stories -- on social media, our website, and other sources, to show the extraordinary commitment and dedication you share with us as a CASA volunteer, and to help inspire other interested volunteers! To participate, please reply to a few brief questions and submit a photo of yourself that we can use. Thank you! Survey Link: https://forms.gle/dorZAqng2tbGRLAd7

To CASA Adina who is doing so well starting off on her first case, she has accepted a second case of another infant child who needed an advocate. Adina has done an excellent job advocating for these little ones and their needs and has begun to develop a close and productive relationship with the foster parents. Adina has also helped with the organization’s recruitment efforts by representing us in community events. Thank you, Adina, for your commitment to CASA.

To CASA's Jeff and Susan on the ongoing advocacy they provide to their CASA children. The children and their foster parents have confided in Jeff and trusted him to help navigate some very difficult situations. In meetings, Jeff has consistently voiced opinions regarding the best interests of the children, even if they differed from the agency, as he has been on the case for almost seven years. Susan has had consistent communication with the foster parents of her CASA child, and she has been a source of encouragement and stability for them, as the case took a turn in a different direction.