North Idaho CASA: 30 years of Advocacy

By Kristin Linville Ludwig, Director of Development, North Idaho CASA

In 1993, before email and laptop computers were part of the workday, a phone would ring, and a message of a court date would be delivered by hand. Volunteers made house calls, and child visits were done in person, with no zoom option in sight. Reports were typed, and paper files were compiled, telling the stories of children in the foster care system. Doctors’ records and court documents of police reports, physical abuse seen by a pediatrician’s examination, and testimonies recorded by third-party witnesses all helped create a timeline worthy of needed intervention and advocacy for children who were placed in the Child Protection System.

Sitting down with Sandra Davis, she recounted when the concept of advocacy was only an idea. “Lorene Frank and I were volunteering at the Women’s Center in the early 90’s when I first moved to Coeur d’Alene. She was an experienced grant writer, and I was managing the financials for the Center at the time. A grant opportunity came up for state funds, servicing abused youth, so Lorene and I were tasked with providing a way the Women’s Center could begin to encompass Advocating for youth outside of the children we currently served that would accompany their abused mothers to the Center.” She recalled that the grant was easily written, and that the money was used to buy two desks and a phone and paid for a rental agreement at the Sherman Arms building for two rooms connected by a hallway. District 4 was an established CASA program and helped write that first grant. Once awarded, the ladies moved out of the Women’s Center and filed for their own EIN, and the First Judicial District CASA program was born.

Judges Swanstrom and Marano were initially skeptical but trusted Sandra and her ability to fight for the child’s best interest. This was not a new concept to her. She was the oldest sibling in a family where her stepfather was “no good,” so standing up for her younger siblings came naturally to her. She began her career in early childhood development and was a fourth-grade teacher for many years. Her sister came upon challenging times, was a victim of a house fire, and was left homeless with three young children. Sandra stepped in and Advocated for those children before it was even a thing. Little did she know that over the next seven years, she would personally be named in advocating for over 300 cases of child abuse and neglect in Northern Idaho.

As the program was gaining traction with the courts, Sandra was earning a stipend and training six volunteers. The judge’s office would call with cases, and she would go with volunteers to court until they were confident to take on the case themselves. Attorney Scott Nass thought very highly of Sandra’s work, which helped CASA be assigned in most cases, no matter the child’s age. In not so many words, he said it best: An unbiased third person, in these cases, is imperative. A person who can listen to the children and advocate for what they need, that is what a CASA is.

As North Idaho CASA celebrates its 30th year, it has come full circle for Sandra Davis, who has remained involved with the program as a past board member and a personal donor for over three decades. “When I first toured the CASA Center on 4th street in 2021, it was everything we had dreamed of for the program. A place to train, office space for Advocates to work, a staff to support the volunteers, and this vital role in court for these kids continues. To be respected and to know we made a difference fighting for this program all those years ago makes me cry today.”

Susan Sotin, a pillar of the St. Maries community, reflects on her life as a CASA, “I have been a CASA since 1997, and the program has changed very little for me. I didn’t have a computer when I did my first case, so a friend invited me to her house and let me use her computer to type up my first report.”

“One of my earliest cases involved three children, six, three, & two years old. I was with a new CPS worker when the police were sent to pick up the children because of drugs in the home; the 3 yr. old little girl walked up to me and took my hand and said, “I grandma,” and walked out with me to the van with the social worker. I worked with their family for years, with the children going home with a parent and then coming back into the system. The mother of the 2 & 3-year-old kept trying to remain sober, but then she got pregnant with three more children. They all went into the same foster home one by one. Parental rights for all the children were finally terminated when that first little girl was around 8 years old. She was placed with her father and paternal grandparents. I see her now and then at school events, she is a Junior this year and doing well.”

Susan does not know how many children she has worked with over her 27 years, so many sad cases that were extremely hard to deal with at times, but she has always enjoyed working with the children, hoping to make a difference. “I believe I have, and I will continue to be a CASA for as long as I can. I have witnessed some parents can rise above where they were and raise great kids.

1993 – 2023 Celebrating 30 years of Advocacy

It is rewarding to watch these kids grow up and see some of them graduate at the top of their class. The whole process gives me hope for a better future.”

For over 25 years, Camie Wereley has advocated for child victims, “I started taking cases in 1997, and some kids were in foster care for so long. Things are much better now regarding time spent in foster care, although there are always exceptions. I appreciate the perspective I got during my two years as a CASA Supervisor. When I started as a volunteer, I carried about two cases at a time, each usually lasting a year (sometimes more). I felt discouraged when the case outcome was not what I felt was best for the child. Still, after my experience as a supervisor, I realized that overall, when the cases close, the outcome for the child was the best in the long run, and we DO make a difference in that child’s life.”

“Probably my most rewarding case was a mentally ill mother who had been dragging her three children all over the United States for three years. She said their father was dead and was believed to be true by Health & Welfare. I was able to track down the biological father. He and his wife (stepmother to the kids) had been trying to locate the children for years. The kids had barely been in school and the 12-year-old was very sad about how she and her two brothers had been treated. The father ended up winning full custody and the girl went on to finish college and the two boys followed in their father’s footsteps and have jobs in the oil industry,” recalls Bobbi Wolf, 26-year advocate with North Idaho CASA.

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By 2011, the program had grown to a 10-person Board of Directors and a paid Executive Director, Sandra Gunn. “I have had a longtime passion for helping children both in a therapeutic setting as a clinician and through CASA. The focus for both is to put our children first. The CASA program does just that with empathy, compassion, and the community at work to protect our children. To me, the program must embody both speaking and listening to move forward with the continuation of good advocacy.” Now, as a LMFT, she continues her work with at-risk children in the community.

Julia Blakeley sits on the National CASA Volunteer Council, representing the interests, views, and perspectives of volunteers throughout the country. Twelve members make up this distinguished group. Julia has been a CASA in Idaho for over seven years and was an advocate in Tennessee before moving to Coeur d’Alene. “The advocacy hasn’t changed. We have always fought, sometimes fiercely, for the child(ren) we serve. Our advocacy is not limited to court; we advocate for them at school, for obtaining needed services, and for placements that reflect their best interest. One advocate was able to request and receive a bicycle for one of her kids on their birthday; the only wish she has made with all her heart. What I see as having changed the most over the years is the support for advocates and, therefore, for children, through our local CASA, from donated items through the CASA Kids Closet, to pre-service training, and ongoing inservice training. The “mechanics” of being a CASA are so much easier.” Blakeley continued, “We are also, as a chapter, in the

I chose to volunteer at CASA because of the valuable, sometimes heart-wrenching work that our advocates do.

—Lori Whalen

enviable position of having enough volunteers to represent every child assigned by the court. That speaks positively of North Idaho CASA in several ways. It is fair to assume that our advocates feel well-trained and supported in their efforts and that they are positive about their experience when they talk to others in the community. Our supervisors are probably more available than is good for them, but it makes a tremendous difference to know that support is a call away when an urgent situation arises.”

Lora Whalen, retired Director of Panhandle Health District, and past President of the CASA Board of Directors, “I chose to volunteer at CASA because of the valuable, sometimes heartwrenching work that our advocates do. The support they provide to the most vulnerable of our children is priceless and whatever we as a community can do to assure that work continues is imperative.” Whalen had a leadership role in 2019 when CASA secured the funds to purchase The CASA Center for Child Victims building on 4th Street in Midtown Coeur d’Alene.

Over the last five years, CASA has successfully developed community relationships, cultivated donors, and hosted fundraising events that have shined a light on recruiting stable, caring volunteer advocates. Grants for direct-to-victim services have allowed the CASA Center to offer outreach programs outside the courtroom to foster families and school-aged kids, including Project Permanency, providing essentials to reunified families, and tutoring services through the CASA Learning Lab. Supplying unwavering advocacy in court will always be the CASA mission for as long as child abuse and neglect exist. Team CASA is proud to be celebrating 30 years of advocacy in 2023 and will continue the necessary work to fight for every child victim in having a life free of abuse and as a staff to ever pursue hope and healing to break the cycle of trauma for future generations.

Kristin Ludwig, Director of Development, and CASA team member has over 20-years experience in event planning, advertising and marketing. After moving to Coeur d’Alene in 2005, she became involved in local volunteer organizations and political campaigns, advocating for the good of the community. She has worked with the Coeur d’Alene Backpack Program since it’s inception and was lead planner on Wine, Women & Shoes for Idaho Youth Ranch.