WEST VIRGINIA News

MARTINSBURG - As of April 1, CASA of the Eastern Panhandle has a new
executive director.Lisa Davis, originally from Pittsburgh, has
been a West Virginia resident for seven years and previously worked with
the Eastern Panhandle Region 9 Planning and Development Council. With
her background in finance and grant management, Davis' responsibilities
at Region 9 included economic development for the area.Child
safety became an interest for Davis while working for Washington County
Children, Youth and Families of Maryland. Through this organization,
Davis said she gained valuable experience in working with federal, state
and local funding and the process of distributing the funding to
nonprofit groups."My passion has always been working with and
helping children and youth," Davis said. "But I am grateful for the year
and a half I spent with Region 9 because that has allowed me to develop
business relationships with several other organizations in the Eastern
Panhandle, and that will now help my work with CASA."According to
Davis, CASA's vision came from a judge who recognized there was no
voice for abused and neglected children in the court system. Today, CASA
has 42 active volunteers who serve as the voice, eyes and ears for kids
to guide them through the difficult social services process."It's
important for people to know we're not replacing the DHHR case workers
or anyone else," Davis said. "We're not taking over their job. CASA
advocates are appointed by the judge to do thorough investigations of
each child and to attend all their (court) hearings. We are an outside,
independent voice with the child's best interest in mind."Although
Davis has held the position of executive director for a mere month, she
already has found several areas for changes and improvements to the
organization."Our region of CASA includes seven states," Davis
said. "West Virginia and Kentucky are the only states in our region that
do not receive any state funding, and I've made it my job to determine
why and how it can be addressed."Locally, Davis also would like
to improve its data collection to show exactly how much money is being
saved when a child has a CASA advocate as opposed to a child who does
not. According to Davis, data from Hampshire County show it costs
approximately $3,000 per child, per month to stay in foster care. The
national average length of stay in foster care is 27 months. However,
when a child is given an advocate, their stay in foster care drops to 21
months.CASA advocates are volunteers who must successfully
complete a 30-hour training course, be 21 years of age and be able to
pass a background check. Davis soon would like to expand CASA's
volunteer network by using some for upcoming events or office work as
needed."Unfortunately, right now we do not have an advocate for
each child that has been removed from the home due to abuse and neglect.
However, currently we are advocating for 135 children," Davis said.Davis
also would like to create new, family fun events for the community that
will help raise local awareness and contributions to CASA. One fun
event that may be returning this summer is done with a flock of
flamingos. The "Save a Child Adopt a Flock" effort has been held in the
past - when a business donates to CASA, it receives a flock of
flamingos. The idea then is to move the flock around town, which then
encourages local businesses to donate.More information is
available by visiting CASA's website at www.casaep.org.

Charleston WV ---- The numbers of children abused or neglected in West
Virginia fell by 35 percent from 2005 through 2008, according to federal
statistics. However, that time period does not include most of the
current recession, and experts say child maltreatment usually goes up
during economic stress.

Children's advocates say the state is doing the right thing by investing
in prevention. Rhonda Stubbs is one of them. The executive director of A
Child's Place CASA, which serves Brooke and Hancock counties, she
says her organization tries to help people with what she calls the
"roller-coaster ride" of raising kids.

"We offer programs so that parents aren't overwhelmed. So they know
that, for example, potty training's a very difficult period of time -
it's frustrating - but that's typical, that's normal and it's going to
be okay, it's going to improve."

One activity CASA holds every year is a baby-safety shower.
It's designed to provide support and information for parents, Stubbs
says, and the word is getting around.

"A young woman called to RSVP to come to the shower. She said she went
last year, and then she called four of her friends who were expecting or
were new moms and invited them to come."

Stubbs says a key to CASA's success is listening to parents,
which builds a connection to offer moms and dads the kinds of help they
actually need.

"It's all about parental resilience. Trying to help parents feel that
they have the support and the tools necessary to be good parents;
offering support in concrete times, when a parent is suffering. Don't
offer them things that you think they need - ask them what they need."

Stubbs and other children's advocates from around the state met in
Hampshire County last week to discuss the statistics.

CHARLESTON -- Across the United States, a child
is reported missing every 40 seconds. That's 800,000 children a year,
according to the U.S. Department of Justice. And of those who disappear,
40 percent are killed within the first hour, about the time it
traditionally takes police to get a photo of a missing child. In
an effort to respond more quickly and safely to reunite more children
with their families, the West Virginia Department of Education has
joined a partnership to create the Ambervision program. A secure
database accessible only by law enforcement will be created from photos
taken this fall as students pose for their school pictures. Authorities
will be able to download the images within seconds of learning a child
is missing. This highly sophisticated system uses state of the
art biometric technology to turn a child's school photo into a 3D
avatar to better assist law enforcement, the media and the general
public to facilitate an abducted child's safe return. Ambervision will
work in conjunction with the Amber Alert program, a voluntary
partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters,
transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an
urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. "The
Department of Education is committed to keeping West Virginia's
children free from harm," said state Superintendent of Schools Steve
Paine. "Ambervision adds to our ability to keep every child safe and
increases the chances of a good outcome in the unfortunate event of a
missing child." The West Virginia Board of Education
currently is in the process of updating Policy 4350 - Procedures for the
Collection, Maintenance and Disclosure of Student Data to require that
student photo records be kept and to provide consistent school directory
data statewide. The policy is currently out on comment and should be
approved before the beginning of school. Ambervision will help West
Virginia's 55 county school systems comply with these new state
regulations. Superintendents will be asked to make sure that
school administrators are checking to see that all children's names and
photos match. County school systems will then be asked to share the
school directory information, including the electronic picture, with
Ambervision each October. The project will serve nearly 282,000 children
enrolled in 742 public schools across West Virginia in addition to
nearly 100 children enrolled at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf
and the Blind. "A missing child is every parent's worst
nightmare," Paine said. "Amber Alert has proven to be an effective tool
in helping reunite families. Ambervision will add to the effectiveness
of the Amber Alert program by expanding the database so that law
enforcement is better prepared should the unthinkable happen. When a
child is lost or abducted we want everyone to be vigilant and aware.
Ambervision will help us do just that." The Ambervision program
picks up where the AmberView program left off when it was dissolved in
2009 when the National Institute of Justice stopped funding the program.
Thousands of photos collected through AmberView were destroyed, making
the Ambervision partnership even more important. For more
information on the Ambervision program, contact the West Virginia
Department of Education's Office of Professional Preparation at
304-558-7010 or the Office of Communications at 304-558-2699.
Information also is available on the Ambervision website at http://www.ambervision.org.