Indiana's court system has named a South Bend man as its CASA of the year. Local officials say they need more volunteers like him to help victimized kids.
CASA stands for Court-Appointed Special Advocate. Volunteers spend time with and advocate for children who’ve been abused or neglected, making sure their voice is heard through the legal process.
The state recently named St. Joseph County’s Tom Brown as its CASA of the year. Brown has helped over 100 kids over his 12 years as a volunteer. The 82-year-old retired accountant says when he quickly grew bored with retirement, his daughter, who worked for the Department of Child Services, encouraged him to volunteer. At first he declined but she worked on him for months until he agreed, and now he’s very grateful she persisted.
”All they wanted to do was have a friend, somebody they could trust, and I figured there was something I could do," Brown said. "It didn’t take any special education, any special training, just being a human being to another child. Over the 12 years, all I can say is that I’m sure I’ve made a difference to a lot of kids but by the same token, I have been changed by working with those children.”
You can learn more about volunteering at sjccasa.org.
