Supporting foster kids: Big Country CASA volunteers offer hope & guidance

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – When a child enters foster care, their world is turned upside down. One local nonprofit, Big Country CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates), provides a steady presence in their lives beyond the justice system.

Big Country CASA Executive Director Lee Ann Millender said being removed from home brings overwhelming changes all at once.

“They lose their parents, their home, sometimes siblings. They might not be placed in the settings that are where the other siblings are. They lose their favorite toys, they lose their school friends, their teachers,” Millender said.

Rob Davidson has been a CASA since 2019 and enjoys watching his kids blossom.

“A CASA is just somebody that has had the heart to volunteer and help the kids of the local community,” Davidson said. “It was neat to see him mature from a child adolescent, manipulative, trying to get things just for himself. I think he matured by the time the case was dismissed into a young man.”

He loves being a role model for young men who lack a male figure in their lives.

“A lot of these cases, it’s maybe a single mom or a grandmother that was helping raise the child, and they just don’t have that male influence. And boys especially, I know I needed that as a kid. So I think that helps them a little bit better,” Davidson shared.

Millender, who has worked in child protective services for 35 years, said that while being a CASA does come with a heavy workload, it is just as rewarding.

“The CASA comes in as that child’s voice, that consistent adult that’s caring and invested in the child’s best interest,” Millender explained. “What children go through once they come into the system until they reach that legal resolution, that’s a hard life. For a volunteer, this is hard work. It must be some of the hardest work a volunteer ever does. But at the same time, it matters.”

CASA is currently seeking more volunteers to help out with foster children in our community. Visit Big Country CASA online to find out how you can join.