Christian County’s first official volunteer for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program was sworn in Tuesday morning in Family Court.
The CASA program is designed to help children in Christian County who are victims of dependency, abuse or neglect. An advocate is appointed by a judge to offer support to a child that is involved in the court system until they find a permanent home.
Linda Farmer served several years as an advocate with CASA in Hopkins County, with an eye on one day seeing the program in Christian County.
She says the end goal for every advocate should be seeing the child in a permanent, loving home.
Farmer says children with a CASA advocate have a better chance at a positive outcome than a child in the system without an advocate.
Farmer became emotional talking about the institution of CASA in Christian County, saying she expects the same success here that the program has experienced elsewhere.
She worked with Family Court Judge Jason Fleming and retired county attorney Mike Foster to get the program started in Christian County.
Executive Director Virginia Erxleben says they are looking for more volunteer advocates and anyone interested can begin the application process by calling her at 270-887-4024.