Sonoma County Appointed Special Advocates for Children Provides Stability and Love to Countys Foster Children



Millie Gibson, the executive director of the Sonoma County Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), has a heart for neglected and abused children, and was recently featured in the Sonoma Index Tribune for reaching out to foster children by providing them a constant adult mentor and companion.

Gibson, who founded the Sonoma County chapter of CASA, searches for adults who are willing to keep watch on foster kids and to provide a human element in the government's legal system for children whose parents can't or won't take care of them.

CASA mentors are assigned to children for as long as they are in foster care, and remain a constant and personal presence in the child's life until they reach adulthood.

"A lot of our kids haven't had the best role models in their lives, so you try to give them an alternative to what they've seen," said Tom Ford, a CASA mentor.

The Sonoma CASA Program is committed to serving the abused and neglected children in Sonoma County who come before the Juvenile Court for protection. The purpose of CASA is to humanize the complicated, unfamiliar, and frightening legal and child welfare systems for the child victim by providing a trained volunteer who will act as a consistent mentor, role model, support person, and advocate.

For more information on Sonoma Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, go to www.sonomacasa.org.

About Sonoma Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children

Volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) are everyday people who are trained and then appointed by judges to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children. When a CASA volunteer is appointed to a child's case, he or she spends time with the social workers, foster parents, family, and most importantly- the child. The advocate then provides the judge with information that assists in providing a unique and heartfelt understanding of the child's needs. A CASA volunteer remains with each child until they are placed in a safe, permanent and nurturing home.





Sonoma County Appointed Special Advocates for Children Provides Stability and Love to Countys Foster Children