Anchorage CASA
GAL Carrie Lofts has the following to say about Michael Clark, Peggy Robinson and Terry Gallagher:
Michael Clarkhas worked diligently to ensure that his CASA youth’s medical needs are being met and that sibling contact is occurring. He also does a wonderful job keeping Carrie up to date on the case!
Peggy Robinson has jumped into a complex new case and is quickly making headway. She has done a great job reaching out to providers, reviewing files and coordinating services!
Terry Gallagher has demonstrated superb consistency by maintaining regular visits with her CASA youth and providing frequent updates to Carrie!
GAL LeeAnn Reicks has the following to say about Melissa Pickle, Jennifer Keese, Jen Ireland, Beaty Graves and Suzie Morgan:
Melissa Pickle recently relocated to another state, but that hasn’t stopped her from providing top notch advocacy for her CASA youth. She is so dedicated that she flew back to Alaska to attend one of her CASA youth’s high school graduations (but not before driving to Palmer to pick up the younger sibling and bring her along to the graduation as well)!
Jennifer Keese also recently moved to a new state, but she’s already made travel arrangements to return to Anchorage this month to attend her CASA youths’ adoptions!
Jen Ireland was a strong educational advocate for her CASA youth and recently finished out her first CASA assignment after her CASA youths were reunified with their parents!
Beaty Graves has been the energizer bunny of Anchorage CASA! She provides outstanding advocacy for several youth, and two of her CASA youths are being adopted this month!
Suzie Morgan is the CASA volunteer for a very difficult case with four youths in two different placements. She was worked tirelessly with all the people involved in these children’s lives to make sure that these youths’ extensive needs are being met!
GAL Marika Athens has the following to say about Karen Greenberg and Harley Hedlund:
Karen Greenberg was recently assigned to a case with two teenage sisters with significant relational dysfunction. She has been consistently meeting with both youths and working to understand their complex relationship and identity issues so she can effectively advocate for their best interests!
Harley Hedlund has been consistently meeting with her CASA youth and advocating for their therapeutic needs. Most recently she has been advocating for their biological mother to engage with them in family therapy!
GAL ShannanBaergan has the following to say about Marianne Spur and Michelle Johnson:
Marianne Spur and Michelle Johnson have taken their first case together. They both split the advocacy duties in a case with six children! Both Marianne and Michelle work tirelessly to meet many of the needs the children have. They work together to ensure the siblings have contact, have appropriate daycare, and that their medical needs are addressed. Both CASA volunteers have built good rapport with the children as well as family members. They communicate consistently with the social worker who, in return, appreciates their assistance in completing tasks on the case!
GAL Jessica Pierson has the following to say about Victoria Braun:
Victoria Braun helped our youth move from a frightful situation to a new foster home, has assisted in accessing services for the youth and even provided transportation to and from those services.
She rescued him from a bad foster placement and when he was suspended for pot, paid for his substance abuse assessment and was reimbursed by OCS.
GAL Shawn McConnell has the following to say about Gena O’Neal, Sandy Morris and Anne Ko:
Gena O’Neal does a terrific job and keeps Shawn appraised of issues that need attention. She recently spent a lot of time and effort helping to coordinate a respite placement for her CASA youths!
Sandy Morris is a consistently strong CASA volunteer. She regularly attends court hearings and maintains regular contact with her CASA youth. She has a wonderful rapport with her CASA youth’s pre-adoptive family!
Anne Kowas assigned to a 6 youth case. She has been going above and beyond. She completed referrals to multiple agencies for her CASA youths to receive mental health assessments. She visits with one of her youth at school on a regular basis to help him improve his reading skills!
GAL Becky Griffin has the following to say about Gayle White, Tina Johnson-Stair, Roseanne Voyles John Schneitman, JeanaSchneitmanand Michele Hope:
Gayle White and Tina Johnson-Stair continue to provide outstanding advocacy on their 5 youth case. They work extremely well with the youths’ relative caregiver who will soon adopt all 5 children. Every season they assist in identifying and obtaining funding for camp and sports programs. They know their CASA youths very well and are able to provide detailed and meaningful updates to the GAL and the court. Recently, they were able to obtain contact information for the children’s father and provide it to his attorney, which enabled the father to make an informed decision regarding his parental rights without going through a painful trial!
Roseanne Voyles is a caring and dedicated CASA volunteer. She has done a wonderful job advocating for the mental health needs of her three CASA youths. She persisted in getting each of them into mental health services, despite numerous and ongoing obstacles. Roseanne advocates for and facilitates sibling contact. She was instrumental in getting the oldest youth into a leadership and professional development program this summer. Roseanne recently completed the Fostering Futures training in order to become an even stronger advocate and mentor for teens in foster care!
John and JeanaSchneitman share a 3 youth case. In the short time since they were assigned to the case, they have already done impressive and meaningful work. They immediately began communicating with both the OCS family services worker and the OCS Independent Living Specialist to make sure that OCS was fully engaged with their CASA youths. They advocated for referrals to be made right away to address their CASA youth’s mental health needs and histories of trauma. Jeana and John have reached out to all of the children’s teachers and other collateral contacts and were able to glean a great deal of helpful information regarding the youths’ strengths and ongoing needs. They have coordinated with the school and other community entities to get the youth enrolled in various summer programs and recently got the eldest youth enrolled in a post-secondary education conference at UAA.
Note: Lisa Wilson and Susie Heuer were on leave and unavailable to provide CASA kudos but they appreciate all of the volunteers they supervise!!