John Healey, Ruthanne Mefford, Heather Rashid, Cynthia Barratt, Bob Mayo, Sylviane Hoare, Krystal Vann, Leroy Hodge, Betty Baitland, Mariel Barrera, Nell Ciancarelli, Sonal Bhuchar, Sarah Gubachy, Metoyer Martin and Casey Davis.
Child Advocates of Fort Bend joined more than 300 Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers, board members and staff from across the state at the Capitol to speak up for children in the child welfare system. Fifteen representatives from the program traveled to Austin as part of CASA Day at the Capitol, the one day each legislative session that the CASA community assembles to bring attention to improving outcomes for children and youth in the foster care system.
The Child Advocates of Fort Bend team met with its local Texas legislators, including Senators Rodney Ellis, Joan Huffman, Lois Kohlkorst and Larry Taylor and Representatives Coleman Garnet, Rick Miller, Ron Reynold, Phil Stephenson and John Zerwas to discuss policy priorities to improve issues in the state’s child welfare system identified by the Sunset Commission and to promote the well-being of children and youth in care.
“Traveling to Austin and meeting with our state leaders in the Capitol during the legislative session is empowering,” said Ruthanne Mefford, chief executive officer for Child Advocates of Fort Bend. “We get the opportunity to speak up on behalf of the children we serve and ask our legislators to make them a top priority.”
Last year, Child Advocates of Fort Bend provided 143 CASA volunteers to 237 children in Fort Bend County. Statewide, 8,066 CASA volunteers advocated for 23,742 foster children. With 46,823 children in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services because of evidence of abuse and neglect, a CASA volunteer was provided for just over half of these children.
“Urging legislators to support Texas CASA’s recommended policies will go a long way to help improve the state’s child protection system and to ensure the well-being of vulnerable children and youth,” said Vicki Spriggs, chief executive officer of Texas CASA, the state organization that provides funding, training, resources, legislative advocacy and other support for the 71 local CASA programs across the state.
For more information on Child Advocates of Fort Bend, visit www.cafb.org or call 281-341-9955.