Shown left to right are Judge Kim Chaney, Joyce Sedlmayr, Jan Peterson, Justin Lynch, Charlotte Libbee and Judge Rusty Turner. (Photo courtesy CASA)
CULLMAN, Ala. – On Feb. 20, Cullman County District Judges Kim Chaney and Rusty Turner swore in four new volunteers for Cullman’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program: Charlotte Libbee, Justin Lynch, Jan Peterson and Joyce Sedlmayr will serve as advocates for children who have come into the Cullman County court system due to abuse, neglect or family custody issues.
CASA is a third-party entity which helps to make sure that a child’s best interests are being served and that permanency is being achieved as quickly as possible. Trained personnel are assigned to specific cases by courts and conduct independent investigations into cases of abuse, to do whatever is in the child's best interest.
Cullman County CASA is under the umbrella of Cullman Caring for Kids (CCK).
According to CCK Director Javon Daniel: “Volunteers, strictly volunteers, are trained, screened very thoroughly, and then after that is done, then they are sworn in by the district court judges, and they become court officials on a case that they are assigned to. Their job, in those instances, is to do their own investigation to determine the facts about a particular case. They are assigned to a case of a child who is in court for abuse or neglect, and they do their own investigation. When they’re finished with the investigation, they write a report to the judge, and in that report they state the facts that they learned during the investigation and make recommendations to the judge, based on those facts.
Daniel continued, “What we usually say is they become the eyes and ears for the judge, because the judge cannot get out and do that in every case. But, more importantly, I think, is that they become the voice for the child, because children have very little to say about custody cases and abuse cases. It’s just important that they know that they have somebody who, their only purpose is to be there for that child. We don’t work for DHR (Cullman County Department of Human Resources); we don’t work for the attorneys. We are there as volunteers to help that child to get into a safe, permanent home as soon as possible.”
The new CASA volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds:
- Joyce Sedlmayr, who retired in 2011 after working for 24 years as a tax compliance auditor in Cullman County, said, “I want to know that I helped a child.”
- Jan Peterson is a retired physical therapist from Florida. Jan’s husband, Doug, is also a CASA volunteer. She said, “We want to help these children and their families to make a better life.”
- Justin Lynch is a family man who is the founder of Preventive Action in Cullman and the pastor of Church 212. He said, “I want to volunteer with CASA because there are children in need of help and I want to do everything I can to make sure I am helping as many people as I can. As a Christian, I believe it is my responsibility to help those in need.”
- Charlotte Libbee, a former paralegal from California, said, “ I just want to know that children are safe and families are being helped.”
For more information about CASA, visit www.cullmancaringforkids.com/casa.html or call 256-739-1111.
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