Program on A Child’s Place CASA topic for Steubenville Woman’s Club

STEUBENVILLE -- The GFWC Woman's Club of Steubenville will focus its attention on red, white and blue attire and a salute to veterans when it holds its November meeting on Tuesday.

The luncheon and business meeting will get under way at noon at Froehlich's Classic Corner in Steubenville.

The organization's Oct. 4 meeting zeroed in on the well being of children as Rhonda Stubbs, executive director of the Follansbee-based A Child's Place CASA, an acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocates, was the guest speaker.

Stubbs, who brought with her three program interns -- Brieanna Pauldo and Ariana Fryer of Franciscan University of Steubenville and Lexington Bever of West Liberty University -- accepted from the club a donation of various child-related items.

CASA has been serving Brooke and Hancock County for 22 years. February 2000 is when it started serving the two counties, and the program is one of 950 across the nation.

"My job is to recruit, screen, train and supervise community citizens who advocate for the abused, and neglected children that we are appointed to," Stubbs explained.

CASAs are "highly trained community volunteers who are appointed by the court to cases of child abuse and neglect," according to informational packets Stubbs provided to club members. "As officers of the court they act as the eyes and ears of the court. CASA meet with the children on their case and independently gather information from others who are involved in the child's life. The CASA then reports back to the court about the status of the case and the well-being of the child."

In March of 2015, the program expanded into Jefferson County, Stubbs told the club members. "We're super grateful to continue to have the new opportunities to speak to people in Jefferson County to continue to educate people that we are serving this county and that we need CASA volunteers, and so we're grateful for this opportunity," she said.

A Child's Place serves about 175 children in the three-county area, Stubbs said. "We have 17 active CASA volunteers working with our program now but unfortunately that is woefully inadequate."

While there is a need for volunteers, there also is a need for volunteers to serve on its board of directors.

A Child's Place CASA, a nonprofit, has as its mission "to develop volunteers who will stand up for abused and neglected children in court, helping to expedite their placement into safe, permanent, nurturing homes," according to information provided to club members.

Stubbs noted A Child's Place CASA is supported by federal and state grants, private contributions and fundraisers.

For information, call (304) 737-4444 or e-mail childsplacecasa@comcast.net. The address is 613 Main St., Follansbee.