Spring 2018

CASA of Pinal County Positive Action, Powerful Results

Pinal County Juvenile Court

Employee of the Year

Pam Burke has been a dedicated CASA coordinator for over 20 years. She continues to be motivat-ed to improve the lives of children involved in the dependency system and advocate for their best interests. Pam has taken on many additional responsibilities that have advanced her to a new level of professionalism and enabled her to be the point person on many projects for the department. She is first in line to offer help in other areas, take on extra tasks when staff are out and willing to cross-train in new areas to further educate and develop herself.

Due to Pam’s diligence, we just received notification that we were awarded the VOCA grant for another 3-years. This grant process was driven by the work of Pam and will bring in over $500,000 to our department. This money will allow the CASA program to serve more children, while continu-ing to strive for excellent customer service and efficiency.

Pam takes the lead with The Pinal County Adoption Day. With her involvement, this event has grown in community support, judicial involvement and statewide recognition. Pam has solicited support from local attorneys, volunteers and court staff. Over 17 agencies and 120 volunteers partic-ipated this year. Pam continues to lead by example.

Pam supports her advocates by knowing each of their cases personally. She attends court hearings with her advocates and does so with professionalism and pride. When Pam is away from the office, she organizes her work accordingly and assists advocates to have their work in early. Pam takes pride in her work and wants to ensure that business goes on as usual in her absence.

Pam was selected for the National CASA Rural Leadership Council thanks to recommendations from our local and state offices. She has held the position for 2 years and has been active in making sure the National CASA organization understands the work that we do in rural Arizona. Her excel-lent work routinely brings honor to our profession, especially Pinal County Juvenile Court, the CASA program and the community members she works with every single day.

Pinal County Historic Courthouse

135 N Pinal Street, Florence, Arizona 85132

Saturday - April 7, 2018 9:30am – 11:00am

Advocates are invited to bring a guest!

Please RSVP early to reserve as space is limited.

RSVP by Friday, March 30th

Jodi Wheeler at

JWheeler@courts.az.gov or 520-866-7076

Light refreshments will be provided.

2018 APPRECIATION RECEPTION

Supervisor Donna McBride, Pam

Burke, and Director Denise Smith

On March 11, 2018, CASA Coordinator Pam Burke, Program Coordinator Ashley Flores, and CASA Advocates (Dan Danser, Beth Chism, and Anne Lewis) traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to attend the National CASA Conference.

The conference included two and a half days full of trainings for staff and advocates with over 1,200 attendees. Throughout the day, each of us attended multiple workshops and sessions which gave us plenty of opportunities to network and get new ideas. The goal is to utilize some of the

topics covered at the conference by offering trainings to our advocates. We already have a few ideas for POD’s, semi-annual trainings, and new outreach/recruiting concepts. Special thanks to the Juvenile Court Community Advisory Board (CAB) and Arizona Department of Corrections who sponsored the trip for our three CASA advocates!

Early childhood professionals and supporters across the country will soon celebrate the Week of the Young Child™, an opportunity to highlight the importance of early learning and the educators who support the positive development of young children.

Many First Things First regions are also partnering with local organizations in communities across Arizona to recognize the annual event, which this year falls on April 16-20, and is hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young children (NAEYC). The week is filled with hands-on, collaborative activities encouraging movement and healthy lifestyles through music, food and art.

The celebration is designed to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

Pinal Region

Week of the Young Child proclamations scheduled from the Pinal County Board of Supervisors and cities and towns of Apache Junction, Eloy, Coolidge and Casa Grande. The Pinal County Early Childhood Coalition is sponsoring celebrations in four communities. There will be free dental and sensory screenings, fun activities, raffle prizes, music and refreshments. Children will navigate through event tables and build, create, and play. Play stations will actively engage children and help parents understand the role of play in healthy early childhood development.

By First Things First

April 14, 10 a.m. - noon, San Carlos Park, 300 W. Central Avenue, Coolidge

April 16, 10 a.m. - noon, Central (Main Street) Park, 601 N.C. St. Eloy

April 17, 10 a.m. - noon, Peart Park, 350 E. 6th St., Casa Grande

Pinal County met with other counties around the

state and CASA of Arizona at the conference!

“I had the honor of representing CASA Pinal Co. at the Annual CASA Conference in Boston. There were many informative and dynamic speakers but my favorite was Adam Foss. He has a few TED talks on YouTube and changed my thinking about race, incar-ceration and criminal justice. Pam, Ashley and I also had the opportunity to throw a few snowballs too!” - Anne Lewis

“Overall the conference was great and very informative! I learned something different from each workshop and session. One of the highlights of the con-ference (besides the Nor-easter) was the session by Rodney Bullard. Rodney is the Vice President of Community Affairs for Chick-Fil-A. Similar to the other keynote speakers, Rodney talked about how each individual has their own story, own experiences, and own struggles. Rodney explained that to make a difference we can start with three feet around us. Whether it be walking by a person or handing them food (like at Chick-Fil– A), how we encoun-ter each individual is the best place to start.” -Ashley Flores

“ Our trip started with a delayed 4.5 hours-flight arrived Boston 8:30pm, setting clocks forward 1 hour- daylight savings time,. Conference included great speakers, training and networking! Our 4-day conference turned into 6-day adventure when Nor'easter hit and flights canceled. The 24 inches of snow included snowballs, snow angels, walking to Fenway park. We experienced Lyft rides to Bunker Hill, Holocaust Memorial, Boston Harbor, Paul Revere's house and sky walk from the 50th floor of the Prudential building with the lights and view of Boston. What a trip!!” - Pam Burke

“Wow...I had such a problem narrowing this down. The conference was excellent! The workshop "Interviewing with the Brain's Stress Response System in Mind" set the stage for this wonderful conference. It allowed me to learn the body's unique and awe-some self protective reaction to overwhelming stress and trauma. The workshop also allow me to know how to recognize this process, what my expectations should be and how to best assist the child(ren) and their dysfunctional families. The "Developing a Model of Trust" taught how to develop that safe relationship, within the context of dis-trust and/or conflict, that encourages a child, a person, a relationship to thrive. A thoroughly enjoyable, mind boggling conference with excellent speakers, leaders and fellow CASA volunteers and staff. Thank you or allowing me to be part of this event!” -Beth Chism

Pam, Thank you for joining me to celebrate the adoption of my CASA child. This adoption was so heartwarming and brought tears to the eyes of everyone in attendance, including Judge Oldham who expressed that it was the highlight of her career as an adoption judge. This day was the culmination of three years of an emotional roller coaster — sometimes tears and frustrations and other times great joy and happiness.

I had many concerns when you initially asked me to take this case. In additional to blindness, this child has multiple disa-bilities and severe sensory impairment. She also has moderate intellectual disability and several health issues. This child was seven years old when she came into the system and originally did not speak or communicate; she just sat in a corner and screamed.

As a CASA, I felt so inadequate and was not sure how I could help this child. Fortunately, she was placed with a special and loving foster family. Although the placement had no prior experience with special needs children, both parents re-searched, experimented, sought medical help and continually grew in their understanding of this child and her needs.

There were many disappointments, set-backs and hurdles to cross along this journey. We had three different DCS case workers and the child’s attorney changed three times during the tenure of this case. Due to a lack of responsiveness on the part of DCS, the judge was forced to issue some harsh decisions after the child had been in care for over one year. As a result, a large DCS team was put on this case, including two court appointees (a Surrogate Parent and a Community Coor-dinator). We had to go “back to square one”.

As a CASA, it was upsetting to see the child become confused as she had to, again, be transported to mother’s home while mother went through parental training for a second time. Family visits began again and it was heartbreaking to watch this child’s disappointment and confusion the many times that her biological mother failed to show for these sessions. The lowest point for this CASA was when the foster parents and I were advocating for severance and adoption while the rest of the team was supportive of biological mom and advocating for reunification.

One member of the team called you to voice their concerns with me as the CASA. Thank you for supporting me and my position during that conversation. We eventually reached the point where the team realized that adoption would be best for this child, and mother relinquished her rights. Since biological father had never been in the child’s life and had not been located, we believed we were close to adoption. However, another hurdle presented itself as DCS found her father in prison in Florence. We then had several hearings and mediation before biological father was willing to relinquish his rights.

Thanks to the dedication, perseverance and hard work of the foster parents, this child has developed into a healthy and hap-py young lady. With proper medical care and growth hormone injections, she has gone from far below all height charts to average height for her age. She is currently attending the AZ School for the Blind in Tucson during the week and is home on weekends. She is receiving speech, occupational and physical therapies. She no longer has tantrums. She is eating by herself and walking all over with a cane. She is now speaking and shows an understanding of what is being said to her. She’s able to make her desires known and asks for assistance when needed.

Attending this child’s adoption is a day I will always remember. Watching her walk across the courtroom by herself and watching her hug the judge and every member of her new family was so moving and heartwarming. Receiving a big hug from her as we said, “goodbye” following the adoption was well worth every tear and frustration I experienced along this journey. I have been extremely blessed to watch this child develop and grow in her life experiences and to play a small part in the lives of such a beautiful family. Thank you again for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Thanks, Barbara

Advocate Shares Thanks to Coordinator

We all realize this type of work can often seem

thankless. Our CASA staff do it because they

have a passion for it. But when letters like this

find its way to one of us, it makes us all believe

a little bit more, motivates us to keep the spirit

and to know our work is important. This letter

to Coordinator Pam Burke from Advocate Bar-

bara Gesecki is a testament to us all.

Christine Holloway

Maricopa, AZ

Cheryl Stein

Gilbert, AZ

Jack Kukkola

Mesa, AZ

Dan Spellman

Casa Grande, AZ

Gary Moran

Mesa, AZ

Jena Miller

Maricopa, AZ

Twila Percucci

Gold Canyon, AZ

Kelly Homol Casa Grande, AZ

Karen Malek

Saddlebrooke, AZ

Welcome to CASA of Pinal County!!

CASA of Pinal County will now be

sending Weekly Email Blasts with

updates, reminders, announcements,

etc. The goal is to help narrow down the

amount of email updates we are sending

to you. Now, you can expect an email

every Wednesday with any updates!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!

A special thank you goes out to Kally and Jim Reynolds of Gold Canyon for their continued work as CASA Advocates for the Pi-

nal County Juvenile Court. Kally and Jim have been very accept-ing of new challenges having

first taken a case that involved a group of siblings that ended

in reunification, a teenage male that eventually aged out at age 18 and now their latest

case, which just ended in an adoption of a grateful young

man to a wonderful family. The adoption was a perfect fit

and a happy ending to this youngster’s odyssey in the foster care system. Jim and Kally, we

thank you for your hard work and service to the children of Pinal County!

CASA Spotlight!

On Friday, March 16th I attended a free training that

was offered by CASA of County in Globe. The train-

ing was presented by the Infant-Toddler Mental

Health Coalition of Arizona and consisted of a morn-

ing and an afternoon session.

The morning session was led by Bob Klaehn, M.D.

As a board-certified Child Psychiatrist, he was very compelling

and adamant about the importance of our CASA volunteers being

able and feeling confident enough to push for early diagnosis of

Autism in infants and toddlers. He focused on the facts and

brought to light the need for an early diagnosis so that these chil-

dren can get the services they so badly need. Too often these

things go unnoticed or misdiagnosed until it is too late. Children in

foster care are already so fragile and their lives so chaotic at times.

Dr. Klaehn stressed how hard it is for a child with autism without

the right tools or care to help cope. I really feel that our CASAs

could benefit from his presentation, as well as foster parents,

childcare workers and DCS caseworkers. The more we know, the

better we can serve our youth in foster care.

The afternoon session was given by Ginett Tomko, a Child Thera-

pist and Clinical Supervisor, who shared that she began her career

as a Parent Aide for DCS. She explained that watching the kids she

served go through a myriad of emotions each time she transported

them to and from visitation is what drove her to focus on the men-

tal health of these kids in foster care, especially the 0-5 population.

She spoke of the importance of attachment to a primary caregiver

and how crucial it is in infants and toddlers, and that the absence of

that bond with a caring adult has been shown to have a huge im-

pact on the children throughout the rest of their lives.

I highly recommend this training if ever you get the chance. There

was so much good information! Thank you to CASA of Gila

County for this training opportunity and thank you to The Infant-

Toddler Mental Health Coalition of Arizona.

-Amanda Lairmore