CASA, LaunchPad Honored At City Council MeetingTwo children-centered organizations were honored by Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer Monday at the Common Council meeting through separate proclamations.
First was Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Kosciusko County, as Thallemer declared April to be Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
Second was LaunchPad, as Thallemer declared April 10-16 the Week of the Young Child.
In his proclamation for the non-profit organization CASA of Kosciusko County, Thallemer said CASA advocates for the best interest of abused and neglected children who are entangled in the court system. In 2020, CASA had 67 volunteers, donating 4,277 hours of their time, advocating for 167 abused and/or neglected children in the community plus advocating for 29 children embroiled in high-conflict custody visitation cases.
In 2020, Kosciusko County Department of Child Services investigated 1,284 reports of abuse or neglect in the county, Thallemer read from his proclamation.
“Whereas, child abuse and neglect are a serious problem, affecting every segment of our community, and finding solutions requires input and action from our community as a whole, all citizens should become more aware of the negative effects of child abuse and neglect, as well as its prevention within the community,” he said. “And, whereas, through the community’s involvement, we are able to scale our impact and reach more children with the goal of serving every child in need.”
Thallemer then proclaimed April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
“Our county officials are working hard to decrease the causes of abuse and neglect, but the reality is more and more children are in need of our services,” he concluded.
CASA of Kosciusko County Executive Director Erin Rowland-Jones introduced two of her board members, Lori Whitehead-Stutzman and Crystal Creekmore, and longtime CASA volunteer advocate Bob Harkness.
“Our CASAs are volunteers from the community that we support, train and recruit to advocate on the behalf of abused and neglected children,” Rowland-Jones said.
April being Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month, CASA has several events planned.
April 16 is the annual pinwheel garden planting. The blue and silver pinwheel is the symbol for child abuse prevention, so there will be a march around the county courthouse square at noon, she said. The event will include speakers from the Department of Child Services, a foster mother and State Rep. Craig Snow.
On April 21, Clearwater Car Wash is doing a giveback day where $2 from every car wash will be donated to CASA. Hacienda is doing a giveback day on April 27, where 20% of the proceeds from that day will go toward CASA, she said.
“As the mayor said, we had over 4,000 hours donated by our volunteers that advocated for 167 abused and neglected children that are within the court system. That doesn’t include those that have not been a part of the court system, so there’s certainly a need if any of you are interested in volunteering,” Rowland-Jones said.
More information will be available at the April 16 and other events, and can be found online at casachildren.com.
LaunchPad is an initiative to solve the problem of there being a lack of child care in the community.
In his proclamation for LaunchPad, Thallemer said LaunchPad, in conjunction with the National Association for the Education of Young Children, are celebrating the Week of the Young Child, April 10-16.
“Whereas, early learning professionals provide quality education and care to children birth to age 5, including more than 30 child care programs and preschools in Kosciusko County; and whereas early learning programs are working to improve learning improvements and inspire high-quality early childhood experiences for our youngest citizens that can provide a foundation of learning, growth, development and success for children in our community,” Thallemer stated, in part, “... be it resolved I, Mayor Joseph M. Thallemer, mayor of the city of Warsaw, do hereby proclaim April 10th through the 16th, 2021, the Week of the Young Child.”
He said child care is a critical component of the community’s workforce and the ability to recruit a qualified workforce. “What you’re doing is so important,” he told LaunchPad Director Sherry Searles.
Searles introduced Amanda Torres, from LaunchPad’s child care resource and referral, Geminus.
“You may or may not be aware that Kosciusko County has been declared a child care desert. So that means we have one child care seat for every three children that need care so their parents can work. We’re short about 1,800 child care seats in the county. Of course, that affects, as the mayor said, the ability to attract and retain workforce,” Searles said.
LaunchPad has been in operation a little over two years, working to “solve this complex and difficult issue, to make child care affordable, but yet to be able to pay the child care workers a fair wage.”
She said the current system has a lot of broken pieces so LaunchPad is working to fix some of those and create a model that will work so families in the community have high-quality and affordable care.
Thallemer thanked LaunchPad for all the work it is doing.
