A Message from our Board President and Executive Director We are incredibly grateful for the support of our many individuals, foundations, governmental agencies and corporations who this past fiscal year contributed (and continue to contribute) so generously to our organization. It is through this support that we are able to effectively stand behind our advocates’ tireless efforts to represent the best interests of their “kids.”
We are very proud of our accomplishments this past year. We served 302 children this year which is an 8% increase from last year. Our merger with CASA of Burlington County last year allowed us to put in place the organizational and volunteer resources to serve more of the children in out-of-home placements in Burlington County. In our Mt. Holly office, a total of 15 new advocates were trained, 97 children were served by our dedicated volunteers, and one new case supervisor was hired. In Mercer County, we swore in 25 new advocates, who joined our 109 other active advocates and who together were able to serve a total of 205 children. We are reaping the benefits of the merger, and making it possible for our organization to work more efficiently—the best illustration is our cost per child has decreased from $2246 to $2062 this past year. The fact still remains, however, that over 1200 abused and neglected children were at one point living in foster homes, residential facilities or group homes this past year. If we look at one point in time (June 30, 2012), 166 Mercer foster children and 366 Burlington foster children had not been assigned CASA volunteers. Although there has been an overall growth in the total number of children served, in Mercer County we actually served fewer children this year than last year due to our shortage of volunteers. We suspect the weak economy has made our efforts increasingly difficult to recruit the additional volunteers we need to serve the many children in the child welfare system. As you read the stories of our wonderful advocates, we think you will understand why we are so proud of them, especially their passion and commitment to the 302 children they served this past year. We are most proud of the children we serve, who bravely go through each hour, day, month and sometimes year doing the best that they can without a place to call home or a family to call their own. As we get to know each of these heroic children and the great impact our advocates have on their lives, we are acutely aware that there is much more work for us to do. This coming year we look forward to providing more advocates for the 55% of Mercer children and 84% of Burlington children who have no one to speak up for their best interests in court. It is during these challenging times that children in out-of-home placements need us the most and demand our best efforts. We look forward to partnering with you this coming year to close this gap, and to help many more children obtain safe and permanent homes.
Philip Bartfield
President, Board of Trustees
Lori Morris
Executive Director