Working from the Coffee Shop? There is a Better Way!

for 3,100 children, double the amount served annually a decade ago.

CASA provides volunteers with 30 hours of training, support and guidance as family courts assign them a case to follow. Volunteers learn about state custody, child protective services, the court system and how to recognize signs of abuse.

White Rock area mother-daughter team Patti and Courtney Capshaw are just two of the many CASA volunteers working for children. Patti is a retired lawyer, and Courtney finished law school last year before her current job required a temporary break from volunteering with CASA. Both spent their free time visiting the child assigned to them by the family court.

or freelancer looking for workspace to call home? Tired of hanging out at coffeeshops or working out of your home? The Mix Coworking and Creative Space might be exactly what you need!

We are more than an office we are a community! Join other like-minded professionals at The Mix! Request

In addition to visiting the child where the state has placed him or her, the Capshaws took the child on fun outings while asking about his or her living situation. They also spoke with teachers, arranged for medical care and prepared court reports to help make recommendations about the child’s future placement.

CASA volunteers work with the courts, CPS and the placement family to make sure the child is cared for. “CASA has an opportunity to get to know the child a lot better than CPS,” Courtney says. “We are appreciated because we are bringing a lot of information to the table that they couldn’t get.”

The Capshaws found that the courts take their recommendations seriously. “They respect CASA,” Courtney says. “Our one job is to advocate for the child and we are the only player that is solely focused on the child. Judges understand that and take it into consideration.”

The volunteer job can be equally important, fulfilling and emotional. Sometimes the kids are placed in homes that volunteers consider unsafe, which is especially difficult after spending so much time with a child in such a precarious situation.

Volunteers need to be patient and persistent, with a capacity to navigate the system and the passion to serve needy children, says Dallas CASA Executive Director and President Kath- leen LaVelle. “You can’t compare this volunteer opportunity to any other in the immediate impact you can see,” she says. “People realize they were born to do this.”

For the Capshaws, working together on CASA cases helped them persevere through what can be heartbreaking situations. “It is so important for us to be a team,” Patti says. “We can talk about the case to each other and provide emotional support.”

How to help: While Dallas CASA added volunteers in recent years to serve 70 percent of children in the state system in Dallas County, the organization always needs more advocates. Learn more at dallascasa.org.

IN TEXAS, 52 CHILDREN ARE REMOVED FROM THEIR HOMES EACH DAY BECAUSE OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT.

IN 2017, CASA HAD

10,424 VOLUNTEERS ADVOCATING FOR

29,747 CHILDREN, A

14 % INCREASE OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

THERE ARE 71 CASA PROGRAMS ACROSS TEXAS, COVERING

214 OF 254 COUNTIES IN THE STATE.

Source: Texas CASA Impact Report www.fowlercommunities.org

My mom has been diagnosed with dementia and our family is planning for her care. Why should we consider moving her to a memory care community?

A: There are many reasons. Living in a community offers socialization as well as physical care. Being around other people, taking a class, attending a performance – these are activities that have significant physical, social, spiritual and emotional benefits for the person living with dementia.