Speaking of the Best of Pinal County — the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program has an average of 75 volunteers appointed by the presiding juvenile judge to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children.
Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home.
Our volunteers come from all walks of life and require no special degrees because we offer 30 hours of training, mentoring and guidance.
Meet a few of our volunteers:
Advocate Suchela Benitez has been a CASA volunteer for almost 1 1/2 years. She is described as: “dedicated,” “positive,” “compassionate.” Suchela has given over 450 hours on one case of two siblings.
She is a relentless advocate and does not shy away from asking a question or proposing solutions. Suchela did not waiver when she had to drive more than an hour to visit or that she had to visit two separate placements. She recently has taken on an additional case that involves a sibling group of two.
Advocate Danielle Lee was assigned her first case in November 2020. Her little guy was placed with his oldest sibling, who was in college. He experienced developmental delays in speech and his behaviors at day care were so disruptive he was suspended at one point.
Danielle was not only a great support for her CASA child, but she was equally supportive of his sibling who took on the huge responsibility. She was a voice for the services that this child needed and helping the sibling get licensed as a foster home. This resulted in additional financial resources so the sibling could continue her education.
Advocate Julia Halvacs has been with CASA for over a year and a half, joining in the middle of the pandemic. Her first case was quite challenging with several different issues, medically and behaviorally, along with mental health challenges and distrust.
She built a trusting relationship with initial kinship placement — the grandfather, then father and mother, allowing her the ability to work closely with them to benefit the child.
Julia’s contributions were invaluable to this case, resulting in a positive outcome of reunification for this CASA child and family.
More information on
CASA volunteering is available by calling 520.866.7076 or visiting www.casaofpinalcounty.org.
