The Illinois Bar Foundation annually provides funding for operation of Court Appointed Special Advocates programs around the state.

The CASA offices named during the Bar Foundation board's most recent grant announcement are those in DuPage County, Lake County, Kankakee County and Lee/Carroll County. Each was awarded $2,500.

Board member John G. O'Brien, who also serves on the ISBA Board of Governors, recently presented the Lake County grant, which will help recruit and train 60 more volunteers to advocate for an additional 125 abused and neglected children.

“It was my observation that, of all the participants in the Juvenile Court process – case workers, social workers, attorneys, court personnel – the CASA volunteers are the best organized and provide meaningful service to their clients,” he said.

Lake County CASA executive director Terri Zenner Greenberg reported last year that 745 children appeared in the 19th Circuit Juvenile Court in 2004.

They had suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, all while supposedly in the care of their parents, Greenberg added.

“CASA volunteers, who are appointed by the court, are often the only reliable, constant presence in many of these children's lives,” she said, “and the only advocates speaking solely on their behalf throughout the legal process.”

To obtain more information or to volunteer for representation, call Greenberg at (847) 808-9154