New Medina County Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers sworn in

MEDINA — The second training class of Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers was sworn-in by Judge Kevin Dunn on Monday, which will allow them to support children in need. Erin Grohe is the program director of CASA of Medina County, which trains community members to be advocates for children in foster care. "All the cases that we are assigned on are under Judge (Kevin) Dunn's court, which is the Juvenile Court here in Medina County," she said. "The Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer is responsible for an independent investigation into all the aspects of the child's life, and then they report back to the court with recommendations for their best interest." Advocate Supervisor Rachel Harriman and six volunteers were sworn in on Monday. Grohe said they will all be responsible for one case each, which allows for a high level of advocacy. "It's about eight to 10 hours a month that CASA volunteers are putting into the service of the child on their case," she said. "Ultimately, all of that time and effort has shown to improve case outcomes, so kids are able to reunify in a safe way, or for kids who cannot safely reunify with their parents, they're able to be adopted or put into the legal custody of a relative through the advocacy of a CASA volunteer." CASA volunteers are an alternative to guardian ad litem, who are traditionally paid attorneys who have a large caseload, Grohe said. "I've really seen that the CASA volunteers are also able to use their outside perspective of someone who's not doing these cases day in and day out to bring a really unique perspective and frame of reference to things as well," she said. Those who are interested in becoming a volunteer fill out an application, complete an in-person interview, have a background check and complete 30 hours of training over the course of five-weeks, Grohe said. For more information, visit medinacountycasa.org. "Our first training class had 14 (people), so to have 20 volunteers in a program only about six months into its establishment is incredible," she said. A national curriculum supplemented with Medina County resources is used in the training, Grohe said. Topics include children's development, safety, minimum sufficient level of care, domestic violence, mental health, substance abuse and case flow. "We have about 100 kids in care here in Medina County, so really when we're thinking about it, there's a child in pretty much every classroom who's impacted by abuse or neglect," she said. "Even though you don't necessarily know someone who's involved in the juvenile court system, there are families who are touched by it here in our county." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.