Bradford Era – by Fran De Lancey

Officials of CASA of McKean County were guests of Smethport Rotarians Tuesday and presented information about this program that trains volunteer advocates to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children ages birth to 21 years during dependency cases.

Suzy Meyer-Page, executive director, and Jessica London, advocate supervisor, attended the noon meeting at the Desert Rose Café.

Authorized by the Juvenile Act, CASA was established in 1977 by a Seattle family court judge who saw a system in place for foster children was underfunded and overworked. “A CASA would be a single adult volunteer, outside of that system, trained to advocate for each child’s individual needs,” London noted. “This volunteer serves as the eyes and ears of the court by providing information the judge needs in order to make a decision in the child’s best interest.” Read More