Seven new Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) have been sworn in by John B. Ellis, presiding juvenile judge of the Solano County Superior Court of California.

The advocates are volunteers who will work with Solano County children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned, said Candy Pierce, executive director of the advocacy program.

Taking the oath of office this week are Lisa Leonard, Martha Gil, Neil Lomboy,
Meghan Reiley, Catherine Coe, Milinda Perry and Katherine Pleger, she said.

“Every year, more than 3,000 reports of abuse and neglect are filed in Solano County, and over 500 children are in foster care and in need of safe, permanent, nurturing homes,” Pierce said.

“Too many of these children spend years moving from one temporary home to another. They have no family to call their own and are more likely than other children to face homelessness, unemployment, even prison as adults,” she said.

Since 1977, court advocates have been assuring that the abuse and neglect those children endured at their homes doesn’t extend to their experience while they’re under the care of the court system, she said.

Solano County’s program began in 2001, adopting a mission statement that it was founded “with the belief that every child is entitled to a safe and stable home.”

CASA of Solano County is a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains the volunteers to become a voice for the children, with whom they meet regularly in a variety of settings, Pierce said.

“CASA volunteers are ordinary people who are committed to doing what is best for a child,” she said.
Those interested in CASA of Solano County may call Pierce at 707-434-0346 or email her at cpierce@casasolano.org.

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