A note from Executive Director Kevin Kyle for the March 2023 “Good News at CASA” Newsletter:
March has come in like a lion at CASA! We have had so many great things going on, it is shaping up to be one of our busiest months ever.
We have a new staff member to announce. I am so pleased to welcome Fiona Williams to our team at CASA. She is our new office administrator and front office person and will quickly become a tremendous asset to our entire staff and our advocates. If you come to the CASA office, please take a minute to meet Fiona and introduce yourself.
March 1st was CASA Day at the Capitol. It was a day for CASA leaders from all over the great state of Texas to convene in Austin, make personal visits with our local legislators to discuss state support of our programs, and even watch the Texas House and Senate sessions in progress. Program Director Denise Hanley and I were fortunate to have great visits with Rep. Dr. Brad Buckley, Rep. Hugh Shine and his wife Debbie, and Rep. Shelby Slawson. All are tremendously supportive of the mission and work that CASA provides to our local communities.
On March 4th, the 6th annual CASA/St. Patrick’s 5K Race and Fun Run were held at Vista Real Estate. The 2023 event was our biggest ever with a field of 109 runners. CASA would like to thank our event sponsors, the many volunteers who made this race possible, and of course, the runners who entered to support the CASA mission. It was a huge success and we are looking forward to next year’s event.
On March 23/24, we will be undergoing our Quality Assurance Review with officials from Texas CASA. This process comes along once every three years and it is quite extensive and thorough as they review all of our policies, procedures, case records, and other operational guidelines to make sure we are fully compliant with Texas CASA expectations and HHSC guidelines as well. We have been preparing for this exam for several months and look forward to the QAR process in late March.
Along the way we have held a CASA Open House orientation session for potential advocates, a Men of CASA recruiting event at Nolan Creek Brewery, and other functions which have all be highly successful at bringing in potential volunteers. We have a very large class scheduled to start training on March 21st – but if you are interested in becoming a CASA – please give our office a call to sign up before that date.
I am so thrilled with the job our staff is doing to serve our volunteers and the children we care for. It truly is a team effort here and we appreciate all you do to support our efforts. Please join us at our events, training sessions, and fundraisers – we want you to be involved and see how your support is making a difference in the lives of our CASA kids. THANK YOU for supporting CASA.
Kevin