July 2013 Heart of the Matterfiles.ctctcdn.com/6c4bf2ee001/402dbec7-38f5-42ff-a853-086699792… · Allie Madrid Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4874 [email protected] Amber Dixon Office

Allie Madrid Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4874 [email protected]

Amber Dixon Office Coordinator 661.321.4865 [email protected] Amy Raddatz Resource Development Manager 661.321.4870 [email protected] Audrey Martinez Volunteer Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4863 [email protected]

Bridget Cole Projects Coordinator 661-321-4877 [email protected] Brittany Brandon Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4872 [email protected] Carrie Garcia Administrative Manager 661.321.4862 [email protected]

Colleen McGauley Executive Director 661.321.4860 [email protected] Cynthia Racicot Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4866 [email protected]

Diana Ramirez Administrative Assistant 661.321.4878 [email protected]

Graciela Chandler Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4867 [email protected]

Heather Garcia Advocate Supervisor 661.321.4869 [email protected]

Janet Shaw Program Manager 661.321.4861 [email protected] Karina Capellino Community Outreach Coordinator 661.321.4864 [email protected] Micky Heppe Assistant Program Manager 661.321.4871 [email protected]

CASA Staff

Heart of the Matter

Volunteers Make the difference

Day Date Time Facilitator

Bakersfield—CASA Office

Monday July 8 10:00 a.m. Margaret DeArmond

Tuesday July 9 12:00 p.m. Heather Garcia

Tuesday July 9 5:30 p.m. Cindy Racicot

Wednesday July 10 12:30 p.m. Micky Heppe

Wednesday July 10 5:30 p.m. Teddi Fanucchi

Thursday July 11 3:30 p.m. Graciela Chandler

Thursday July 11 5:30 p.m. Lori Porterfield

Saturday July 13 10:00 a.m. Allie Madrid

Tehachapi Don Pericos

Tuesday July 9 12:30 p.m. Janet Shaw

Ridgecrest

Wednesday July 10 5:30 p.m. Allie Madrid

If you are unable to attend peer review in person, try our conference call option. Conference call peer reviews are available by RESERVATION only by emailing Bridget

Cole at [email protected] or calling (661) 631-2272.

Peer Review, JULY 2013

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REMEMBER, Active CASA volunteers are required to attend monthly Peer Reviews.

If you are unable to attend Peer Review this month, Call your Advocate Supervisor

and discuss how you can remain in compliance with the CASA program.

Regular Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 5:30 pm Friday 7:30 am - 12:00 pm

July 2013

CASA Office Closed:

July 4th & 5th

Court Dates

July & August 2013

~ July 2013 ~

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Maricruz Tarango Unassigned Case

2

3 Angela Vazquez

4 Office Closed 5 Jackie Holmes Shelley Ragsdale Crystal Marquez Destinee Calhoun (Office Closed)

6

7

8 Cheryl Wilhelmsen

9 Timi Vernon Lora Minton Bettye Cooper Teddi Fanucchi

10 Gaylene Merz

11 Leticia Cordova

12 Judith Todd Rhonda Waigand

13

14

15

16 Barbara Kirkegaard-Jensen Barbara Day Amber Dixon Teddi Fanucchi

17

18 Allie Madrid

19

20

21

22 Pam Spitzer

23

24 Susie Price

25 Katherine Tuttle

26 Michael Hutchinson Katie Whittington

27

28

29

30 Unassigned Case

31

Notes:

Remember: The CASA office closes every Friday at 12:00 p.m.!

~ August 2013 ~

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

3

4

5 Cynthia Mundschau

6

7

8

9 Graciela Garcia

10

11

12

13 Veronica Green

14

15 Mary Alice Finn Victoria Lingua

16 Agnes DeJong

17

18

19

20 Trenton Spears

21

22 Anna Dobrzanski Aida Wilhelm

23 Christina McKelvey Arthur Hill

24

25

26 Donna Miller

27 Margaret DeArmond

28 Joseph Sullivan

29

30

31

Continuing Education for July 2013 CASA volunteers are required to complete twelve hours of continuing education per year. There is a plethora of information available for you to complete these hours. Please see below for ways to find resources available to you.

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Cultural Competence When: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Time: 6:00 p.m.—7:00 p.m. Where: CASA Office Presented by: Joel Moreno, LMFT

Kern County Mental Health Dept. Understanding why being culturally competent is important. As volunteers, it is an important part of the CASA role to work effectively with people from a variety of backgrounds. This one hour continuing education class will highlight the following:

A general definition of what cultural competence means Explain why cultural competence is important Provide basic criteria to assist in the development of a personal commitment to the practice of cultural

competence Explain the essential knowledge, skills, and attributes that are needed for developing cultural competence.

This includes professional skills and personal attributes. Explain the cultural competence continuum Provide culturally competent communication strategies

Continuing Education Resources…………………. The California LifeLine Program provides discounted basic home phone service to qualified households. Visit hellosavings.org or families can call 1-866-272-0349. How Health Care Reform Can Help Children and Families in the Child Welfare System: Options for Action. Low-Income Working Families Paper 25. Urban Institute. 2013 http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412842-how-health-care-reform-can-help.pdf Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration [Tool Kit]. Sesame Workshop. 2013 http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/topicsandactivities/toolkits/incarceration Help Me to Succeed: A Guide for Supporting Youth in Foster Care to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential. 2013 Sponsoring Organization: United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/pubs/Help-Me-Succeed.pdf

The Kern County Network for Children will be providing a free training on Wednesday, July 10th – “Understanding Child Sexual Abuse: Prevention, Reporting & Recovery.” Please RSVP no later than Monday, July 8, 2013 by registering online at http://www.kcnc.org/registration, registra-tion will not be taken over the phone and you must register online. You will receive an e-mail confirmation once you have been added to the RSVP list. Due to overwhelming response and limited seating in our Kern Cares series of free monthly trainings, if you RSVP and are not able to attend the training, please notify us at least 24 hours in advance.

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Acelma Chandler Acelma has been a CASA Volunteer for three years. She became interested in the CASA program because she loves children and wanted to make a positive impact in their lives. Her case has four siblings, two girls and two boys. The girls are in separate foster homes and the two boys are home with the natural parents under the plan of Family Maintenance. She can remember her first meeting with all of the children, learning their personality traits, their favorite activities and discovering which children were shy and which were outgoing.

One of Acelma’s goals is making sure that the children have a family visit one to two times per month. Seeing the children together, watching them hug and tell one another they love them reminds her of why she chose her role as an advocate. As with any case, these children have faced struggles. One of the children experienced four placement changes and was having trouble adjusting. Once Acelma was assigned to the case, she helped advocate for a placement that was an excellent fit for this specific child. She also helped them all find the correct resources for treatment to assist them in adjustment and growth. Acelma is so very proud of her CASA children and how far they have come on this journey. The oldest child is focused on graduation and has invited Acelma to attend the ceremony and celebration. Acelma feels she has made a difference in the lives of all of her CASA children just by listening and helping them find the right resources for their personal situations. She would like to give a big “Thank you!” to her Advocate Supervisor, Heather Garcia, for all of Heather’s support and guidance.

Timesheets for June are due July 15th!

May

Total CASA donated hours….602.55 Total Mileage…..7,267

Did you know that you can get a tax credit for your CASA Volunteer mileage? When you submit your monthly time logs we enter the amount of time you volunteer and the number of miles you drive for CASA. In January, you can request the total number of miles you drove for CASA. That can be converted into a tax deduction of $.14 per mile, it adds up. So the next time you turn in your time logs don’t forget to add your mileage!!!

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A big Thank You goes out to Lois Miller and Theresa Thompson for volunteering to copy our files at court. I hope you know how valuable your help is to us. – Janet Shaw, Program Manager Thank you, Michael Mundschau!!! As you wind down your teen’s case, you continue to be “Steady as he goes” and completely unflappable, no matter what the circumstances. Advocate Supervisor, Cindy Racicot Congratulations to Katie Tuttle, Karla Ruelas, Ruthann Marquez, Shirley Muhammad, and Jeannie Levig for accepting your first cases!! I am looking forward to working with you all! Advocate Supervisor, Brittany Brandon Hilary Rutherford, you have continued to advocate and fight the good fight for your CASA child. You have amazing perseverance! Advocate Supervisor, Allie Madrid Tammy Tucker and Antonette Ayers: You ladies are awesome! Thank you for all you are doing for our kids in Ridgecrest. Advocate Supervisor, Allie Madrid Heather Garcia and Lori Porterfield: Excellent work in advocating for your CASA child. Perfect match! Advocate Supervisor, Allie Madrid Dwight and Judy Todd: Wow! Your girl has finally turned 18! All your hard work has not gone unnoticed! The both

of you are simply amazing. Advocate Supervisor, Allie Madrid Jennifer Garner: Yay! Your first CASA case! Can’t wait to work with you! Advocate Supervisor, Allie Madrid BIG ol’ Thank You’s to Patricia Buys, Jihadda Govan, Diana Ramirez, and Jodi Rowe, for accepting another case! You are awesome!!! Advocate Supervisor, Graciela Garcia Bobby George, Jim George, Melissa Grahek, Loretta Hayes, Natalie Rivera, Judy Sager, and Theresa Upton, just accepted their first case. Yay!!!! Advocate Supervisor, Graciela Garcia Betty Cooper we are almost done with our court report, and it’s looking great. Submitting your notes on a timely manner has definitely paid off because there’s so much stuff going on with our CASA child. Good Job!!! Advocate Supervisor, Graciela Garcia Sending LOTS of hooray’s to Timi Vernon! Your advocacy skills are really shining right now. You rock!!! Advocate Supervisor, Graciela Garcia A BIG THANK YOU to Acelma Willis Chandler for seeing your fifth CASA child through dependency. Your Advocacy spoke volumes to these youth, you have effortlessly served. I applaud you for your dedication to CASA and look forward to working with such an Amazing woman. Advocate Supervisor, Heather Garcia Hooray to Coleen Kapral for accepting your first CASA case! Advocate Supervisor, Heather Garcia

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Check out our July pick of the month: “Run, Mummy, Run” by Cathy Glass

According to the Kern County District Attorney’s office, there has been a spike in felony domestic violence cases. In 2011, there were 400 filings and in 2012, it jumped up 25%. Most domestic violence cases are increasing because the level of violence is increasing. More cases are involving weapons and torture. So many of our CASA children have witnessed domestic violence in their homes. Studies have shown that the emotional effects of witnessing domestic violence are very similar to the psychological trauma associated with being a victim of child abuse. Wow! In order to raise awareness of domestic violence in our society, please join us as we read Run, Mummy, Run by Cathy Glass. It’s a novel inspired by a true story where a mother of two becomes a victim of terrible spousal abuse. Here’s a brief synopsis: When Aisha spots an ad for a 'personal introductory service for professionals' in the newspaper, she could never have guessed it would lead to such a perfect marriage. But you should be careful what you wish for…Mark is sorry the first time he hits Aisha. His tears make her all the more determined to be a better wife; not to let herself down again. But however hard Aisha tries, she can't live up to Mark's impossible expectations – or escape his terrifying, violent temper. Soon she is trapped in a cycle of horrific abuse and imprisonment. And with two young children to protect, Aisha must draw on what strength she has left to find an escape. What follows is something so devastating it plunges Aisha into her darkest days yet. Is the price she must pay for freedom too high?

Please mark your calendars! We will be having a book discussion on Wednesday, July 31 at 5 pm here at the CASA office. Refreshments provided! Kindly remember to put 3 hours of C.E. on your timesheet: 2 hours for reading the book and 1 hour for discussion. Happy Reading! Allie Madrid & Gracie Garcia

You may drop off any donations to the CASA office at 2000, 24th Street, Bakersfield Please contact Bridget Cole at [email protected] or (661) 321-4877

Celebrating Sibling event benefits both CASA children as well as foster children!

Tessa Williams….,…...July 1 Lori Porterfield…………...July 2 Colleen McGauley….July 4 Craig Carranco…………....July 5 Darren Thompson…..July 8 Pamela Spitzer……………..July 9 Natalie Rivera………..July 12 Mary Lou Leon……………..July 16 Julie Manning…….....July 24 Anna Dobrzanski…………...July 28 Laura Milburn……….July 29

For the children…... If your CASA child is having a birthday or special event, please check with your Advocate Supervisor for current gift certificates or items we may have.

Rollerama...

Gift Cards…

Color Me Mine Certificates….

Lots of Toys….

Restaurant Certificates….

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Come grab a gift for your CASA child’s birthday, or just a Job Well Done! We thankfully have plenty!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped out at the Nut Festival, June 15, 2013! A big thank you to everyone that helped make it a success. Not only do you give of your time for the children, but also to the organization so we can bring awareness to the community! Colleen A. McGauley, Mickey Heppe & Janet Shaw

In celebration of your CASA anniversary, you will receive an ID Card on the month you became an advocate who Lifts up a Child’s voice. A Child’s Life.

This month of July, we are celebrating:

Marita Cortez-Rodriguez Anna Dobrzanski Jackie Holmes Susie Price Jodi Rowe

Cholli Williams Sally Hill

Jane Parsons Shannon Williams

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CASA Board met on June 19, 2013. Advocate Bobbi Jensen addressed the Board. Bobbi has been an Advocate for 8 years and most of her cases involved multiple siblings. Her current case has 6 siblings ranging from 18 years to the toddler stage. The youngest three are now eligible for adoption, a process that was interrupted by a brief return to the mother that was unsuccessful. Fortunately, the children were able to be returned to the same family, and the adoption is now back in progress. The middle two children are 8 and 13 and are currently in stable homes and the Advocate is working toward guardianship in those cases. The oldest child who is now 18 is currently in the AB12 program and Bobbi will soon be exiting that case. He is presently pursuing plans to join the armed forces. She has established a good relationship with this young man and is hopeful of maintaining contact with him. Colleen McGauley, Executive Director introduced Margaret DeArmond who has been selected to serve the Board as the Advocate Liaison for the 2013-14 year. She thanked the current Liaison and presented a very nice gift in appreciation for her service. Linda Sullenger announced the end of the term of service for two of the Board Members, Ben Hanson and Ted Pierce. Both Ben and Ted were thanked for their excellent service while members of the Board and were presented with gifts of appreciation. The minutes of the Public Relations Committee, Celebrations Committee, Derby wrap-up minutes and the Nut Committee were all unanimously approved. The Fund Development reports were given. Final figures were not available for the Derby party, but it was reported that the anticipated goal had been exceeded. Final figures would be presented next month. The Derby Committee is already busy planning for next year’s Derby party. The Wine, Women & Shoes Committee is planning new and exciting things for this year’s party and are obtaining sponsorships. The Celebrations Committee announced that there are three parties left for this year. Ted Pierce, Nominating Committee chairman discussed the ongoing efforts to recruit new Board members and offered some suggestions for possible resources. Mike Mariani, Chairman of the Financial Committee gave the financial report for the year. He stated that we are in at least a break even status or slightly better than budget. The report was unanimously accepted by the Board. He next discussed the draft 2013-2014 Budget which had been proposed. He recommended that the Board accept the Budget as presented and it was unanimously accepted. Colleen McGauley, Executive Director, reported that the staff evaluations had all been completed and she commented to the Board that we have an excellent, well-qualified and hard-working staff. She discussed National and State CASA pro-grams which are in planning stages for on-line learning and conference calls to aid in efficiency of operation; she discussed Judicial Council donation funding structure and she discussed the most recent class of advocates. President Linda Sullenger discussed the Strategic Plan which was unanimously approved by the Board. She presented flowers to all of the Board members in gratitude for their service during her tenure as President, and she then introduced Barry Zoller as the new president for the 2013-14 year.

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Monday, July 1, 2013,

4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Would you like a fabulous meal and to support CASA of Kern

County at the same time?

On Monday, July 1, 2013, from 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. at Wiki’s

Wine Dive & Grill , Bakersfield’s only casual gourmet restaurant

and wine bar, you can have your meal and 25% of the

evening’s orders will be given directly to CASA!!!

Wow!! Thank you to Wiki’s Wine Dive & Grill, Ricardo Cubias,

General Manger & Partner, Mike Earhart, Partner & Rick Peace,

Partner for this opportunity!

Please share with family, friends, and even more friends!

Wiki’s Wine Dive & Grill

11350 Ming Avenue (Where Ming & Buena Vista intersect)

661.39.WIKIS (399.4547)