GREENFIELD — When Nancy Mann read about Hancock County’s child advocacy program several years ago, it piqued her interest. But after learning more about the volunteer job’s responsibilities, Mann decided it wasn’t a good fit. It seemed too difficult and emotionally draining.
Then, in 2015, 1-year-old Zoey Wagoner died. The Greenfield infant suffered repeated physical abuse, enduring at least 50 injuries leading to her death. Her parents are now in prison.
Zoey’s death, Mann said, and the death of another local child around that same time hit close to home.
“It just struck me very much that these were little people that had nobody to help them and have no voice,” she said. “I was confronted with my own selfishness, is what it boiled down to, and I could not help but think I have been thinking this is too hard for me to do when they had nobody.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryMann is one of about 40 active volunteers for East Central Indiana Court Appointed Special Advocates, more commonly called CASA. They’re tasked with carefully examining the case of abused and neglected children and make recommendations to judges, hoping for children to be in safe and stable homes.
The organization’s county office, located at the Hancock County Veterans Memorial Building, 98 E. North St. in Greenfield, has outgrown its space on the first floor and will soon shift into a much larger office on the top floor. The Hancock County Commissioners approved the move earlier this year.
With the doors set to open on April 22, workers are putting finishing touches on the new offices and moving boxes and furniture up the stairs. Recently, volunteers painted and fixed up the space.
CASA’s three staff members have had to stuff into a cramped one-room office about the size of a dining room for years, said Annette Craycraft, executive director of East Central Indiana CASA. There’s little space to meet with volunteers, answer phone calls and have confidential discussions about ongoing cases. But when Families First, an Indiana-based counseling center, decided to move out of the three-room third-floor office, CASA staff jumped at the opportunity and approached the commissioners.
Marciann McClarnon Miller, CASA manager and trainer, said the new office will allow the organization to train volunteers in a larger space. They had to previously meet in other buildings, Craycraft added.
The entrances to the two outer rooms on each side of the office’s middle administrative area can close for private conversations or open up for training events, McClarnon Miller said.
“We want to honor our volunteers by providing a safe place for them where they can come and discuss their cases and their children,” she said.
CASA volunteers have to be fact-gatherers in the court, McClarnon Miller said.
“We are the eyes and ears of the judge, because we don’t want the children going through the traumatic experience of being present in court,” she said, adding they also serve as the voice for children.
Since CASA started in Hancock County about a 15 years ago, the number of volunteers has quadrupled, but that growth hasn’t kept up with the amount of cases, said Craycraft. The organization serves both Hancock and Madison counties.
Craycraft said the 40 volunteers typically handle 120 to 150 cases at any given time. They started 2018 with 109 open cases from 2017 and picked up 142 new cases throughout the year. Each case can have from one to five children, said Cheryl Seelig, office supervisor for CASA.
Over the past few years, Craycraft said, the number of cases has increased as more children in the county have been neglected or abused due to drug abuse and the lack of treatment for mental illness. Some cases are also staying open longer than before, she said.
Mann has been advocating for the same child since joining CASA two years ago. It’s frustrating, she said, to wait for the court system to wrap up cases and provide some relief to kids who need stability.
“These children, their lives are flying by,” Mann said. “A month to us may not seem like much, but it’s a lot to them. I just wish we could move faster.”
But Mann also sees the silver lining. In the two years on the case, the child she represents has had multiple case managers, therapists, tutors, schools and foster care placements — but one advocate.
“I’ve been the constant for this child,” Mann said.
McClarnon Miller said that’s the case for many children who have CASAs.
“A lot of times we’re the first stable adult they’ve had in their life for a long time, or maybe ever,” she said.
Unfortunately, McClarnon Miller said, nearly 50 children don’t have a CASA volunteer by their side. They’re trying to eliminate that waiting list, she said, but that means recruiting more volunteers.
Craycraft said her goal is for the county to have 100 volunteers, but an additional 30 would be a good start. Some volunteers can only take one case, while others look after two or three at a time.
“So it all makes sense that we have this bigger space,” McClarnon Miller said, “so we can grow and help more children.”
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People interested in becoming CASA volunteers may call 317-477-0034 to learn more. Information also is available on the East Central Indiana CASA Facebook page or at eastcentralcasa.org.
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East Central Indiana CASA honored its volunteers and local supporters at a celebration this week at Montana Mike’s restaurant. The organization also recognized Judge Terry K. Snow of Hancock County Superior Court 1. He helped bring the CASA program to Hancock County in 2004. Greenfield Mayor Chuck Fewell presented a declaration making April 9, 2019, “Terry K. Snow Day” in Hancock County, honoring Snow for his dedication of service to children in the county.
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A county judge who brought CASA to Hancock County 15 years ago is recognized for his service to children. Page A6
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