Friday, Jun 1, 2018
May 30, 2018
Contacts: Melynda Milburn Jamison
859 246-4313 (office)
859 583-8046 (cell)
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lexington Named Governor’s Service Award Recipient
Although Kentucky is one of the highest states for child abuse and neglect, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lexington is working to try and change this statistic. CASA uses trained community volunteers to represent child abuse and neglect victims within the family court system.
CASA of Lexington will be among the awardees at the 2018 Governor’s Service Awards on May 30th at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort. The awards are coordinated by Serve Kentucky– formerly known as the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service. Serve Kentucky is part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The awards offer a rare glimpse into the lives and achievements of Kentuckians who serve without expectation of compensation, recognition, or commendation.
"CASA of Lexington is honored to have received the Governor’s Service Award for the work we do on behalf of abused and neglected children in the family court system. This award is truly a testament to the work of our CASA volunteers, board members, judges, social workers, Kentucky CASA Network, and supporters. It truly is a team effort, and we are both humbled to receive this award and hopeful this recognition will bring more attention to the issue of child abuse and neglect and motivate people to become involved with CASA,” said Melynda Milburn Jamison, Executive Director of CASA of Lexington.
Child abuse is a real issue for the state of Kentucky and the city of Lexington. Last year in Fayette and Bourbon counties, CASA of Lexington served 529 children. However, there were over 900 children CASA of Lexington could not serve due to lack of staff and volunteers.
“If you’re looking for a way to make a real impact, we would love to share more about CASA with you. We have a role for everyone to play, whether it is CASA advocate, donor, or spreading the word about child abuse prevention,” said Jamison.
Children with a CASA advocate in Kentucky spend 5.5 fewer months in foster care, experience fewer out of home placements, and have significantly-improved educational performance. This not only helps children recover faster, it also results in savings to the state because of the reduced time spent in foster care.
This award comes after Kentucky CASA Network Director, Andrea Bruns, was recently named the first-ever recipient of the National CASA Association State Director of the Year and CASA of Lexington Director, Melynda Jamison, was named the Kappa Alpha Theta Program Director of the Year for the nation.
If you are interested in becoming a CASA volunteer, please contact the office at (859) 246-4313. To make a donation or learn more about CASA of Lexington, visit the website at www.lexingtoncasa.com.
