The Situation:
CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, has offices all over the country. Their primary goal is to find volunteers who will stand up to be the voice for a child in a custody situation. Often times, when parental rights have been severed, the child in this situation is bounced from foster home to foster home. CASA volunteers work to make sure that the child gets into a permanent home and often times works to keep siblings together. Currently there are hundreds of children who are in need of a CASA volunteer. Without that volunteer, the child has to rely upon an attorney to be their voice. This causes two problems; the lawyer has no emotional connection to the child AND the lawyer costs the county money. CASA volunteers not only protect children, they actually save millions in taxpayer dollars.
What we are doing:
Through the combined efforts of the Federated Media radio stations and The Elkhart Truth, an aggressive campaign was launched to raise awareness of the need for more CASA volunteers. A seven week campaign started in July 2009. In total, over $450,000 worth of advertising was given to the program. The exposure extended throughout northern Indiana as it aired on each of the 17 Federated Media radio stations located in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Elkhart.
Results To Date:
Heightend brand awareness for all CASA programs in the area
Allen County (Fort Wayne) added an additional 35 volunteers.
St. Joseph County (South Bend) added an additional 12 volunteers.
Elkhart County added an additional 24 volunteers. Prior to this they only had 50, so their volunteer base grew by 50%!