The Bergen CASA Bulletin: 1st Quarter 2022

Here are some highlights:

• An Advocate was appointed to every child who was placed in foster care for more than a brief transitory period
• 133 children were advocated for in 2021
• 105 advocates served 5,945 hours on their cases
• Over 90% of foster children were placed in permanent homes

Bergen CASA has undergone major program changes over the past two years including:

• Entirely replacing our aged and non-functional information technology
• Relocating our data to the cloud
• Relaunching our web site
• Hiring four key new staff
• Recruiting five new members to our Board of Trustees
• Recruiting and training 37 new Advocates (entirely remote). While our training has been remote during the pandemic the new Advocate Training in April will be a hybrid with in-person classes on Saturdays.

TWO SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS

Zonie LeSane, our Board President, provided leadership with her positivity and her extensive Rolodex of contacts to help us with anything we needed. Here’s just one example, when we needed new Advocate fingerprint screens, Zonie put us in touch with the Sherriff who expedited the process as other CASA programs in New Jersey were stymied.

Lauren Awe, our Office Manager, single handedly kept the office running. As soon as the building
re-opened during the pandemic, Lauren was coordinating with our volunteers and distributing much needed items to our families.

Last year we started to proactively shift our funding sources.  Primarily funded by federal grants, we recognize these government funds have been considerably curtailed and will continue to be cut back. While we continue to receive maximum funding from this source, our focus is shifting to raising funds from corporate sponsorships, individuals as well as conducting key fundraising events.

With your help, we look forward to continuing our work to make a difference for the most vulnerable children in the county. If you have questions about partnering with or otherwise assisting Bergen County CASA please do not hesitate to reach out to me, lucy@bergencasa.org .

Thank you for being a valued member of our Bergen CASA family and for your interest in this program.

Your support helps us “change a child’s story.”

With gratitude,