Fellow Rotarian and Executive Director for CASA Jan Jones was the guest speaker

Fellow Rotarian and Executive Director for CASA Jan Jones (left) was the guest speaker, along with advocate Melissa Dunlop.

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Members of the Campbell County Rotary Club learned all about CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) at Tuesday’s Luncheon held at the Methodist Church of LaFollette.

Fellow Rotarian and Executive Director for CASA Jan Jones was the guest speaker, along with advocate Melissa Dunlop.

Volunteer advocates at CASA provide “a voice” for the kids that go through the court system for multiple reasons, such as custody cases, neglect, and now truancy. According to Jones, truancy cases are on the rise in Campbell County and CASA is now working with those children as well.

She went over state statistics for Tennessee from last year.

“On any given day, there can be 20,000 children who have been abused and neglected, and CASA volunteers speak in court for those kids. CASA volunteers do their own investigation and when the kids are in court, those volunteers are right there beside those kids,” Jones said, going into detail about the role that CASA volunteers have in the lives of kids in the court system.

Advocates are sworn in by the county’s general session judge.

“On any given day, there can be 20,000 children who have been abused and neglected, and CASA volunteers speak in court for those kids,” said Jan Jones, Executive Director for CASA.

In addition to current truancy cases, other cases that CASA advocates are working on right now with children include dependency and neglect cases, as well as custody cases.

According to Jones, once advocates are trained and sworn in, they are “empowered to obtain detailed information related to a child’s case, trained to prepare a written report with recommendations for the judge and to speak for the child’s best interest.”

CASA’s court appointed advocates will then be assigned to children who are going through the court system for various reasons such as child abuse and/or neglect cases. An advocate gets assigned to a child and follows the case from beginning until the case closes.

Campbell County cases get referred to CASA through the court system from the General Sessions Judge.

“We do our own investigation.  That report goes to everyone, Judge, attorneys, mom and dad, anyone involved in the case that it is pertinent to,” Jones said.

She also went over some Tennessee state statistics from June of 2024.

“In the state of Tennessee, the estimated cost to have a child in foster care is $8,800, and having a CASA volunteer can shorten a child’s time in foster care by at least one month. If you figure that in 2024, there was 1,568 CASA volunteers serving over 5,800 children, which in turn saved Tennessee taxpayers $45.9 million dollars,” Jones said.

Melissa Dunlop has traveled all over the county and surrounding counties as a volunteer advocate for CASA.

Campbell County CASA Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Dunlop spoke briefly. She started her CASA journey in 2005 while she lived in Florida.

She and her husband Tim moved to Campbell County in 2024, and she became a volunteer here.

Dunlop shared what she does with CASA.

“When I get a new case, the first thing I do is review the case and check for the next court date and then I go meet the child … and then it goes from there,” Dunlop said.

She has traveled all over the county and surrounding counties as a volunteer advocate for CASA.

Dunlop shared her experiences of volunteering at CASA over the past 20 years saying it was a “mixed bag.”

“There has been a lot of happy joyful times with children and families and a lot heartbreaking and tearful times with children and families…the cases can be very hard.”

Dunlop also spoke about CASA taking on truancy cases regarding children not attending school.

According to Dunlop, General Sessions Judge Bill Jones asked CASA to “start taking on truancy cases as they are on the increase in Campbell County.”

She explained that “in some cases, the Judge is charging parents with educational neglect and removing the child from the home.”

“Attendance supervisors at the middle schools and high schools file truancy petitions to the judge, and it goes from there. Children and care givers are given plenty of time to make this work. We have a good Judge who is strict on truancy, and we appreciate that, education is important,” Dunlop said.

CASA Director Jones and Dunlop both said more volunteers were always needed.

“CASA is a great organization, and we’re thankful to have people volunteering their time and energy to be a voice for the children,” Jones said.

CASA of Campbell County is a 501(c)(3) and was established in January of 2007. For the five years prior to that, it operated as part of a multi-county agency. The mission of CASA is “to advocate for abused and neglected children by providing them with a voice through trained volunteer advocates”. These advocates ensure that each child receives the necessary services they need to be safe, cared for and protected.

For more information about CASA of Campbell County or to learn more on how you can become a volunteer advocate, contact the office at 423.562.2700 or visit the website. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-04/23/2025-6AM)

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