Susan Bulla wanted to make a difference in the lives of children by working for the Coles County Court Appointed Special Advocates program.

“Making a difference in a child’s life is one of the reason’s I started working for CASA,” Bulla said.

Bulla, who has served as executive director of the organization since October, said the organization is important, because it supports children that have to appear in court, not for wrongdoing but because of abuse and neglect.

“CASA is the eyes and ears for the court,” Bulla said.

To support the organization, there will be a fundraiser from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Union Bowling Lanes located in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The organization is not funded by the state. Illinois is one of three states that does not provide funding to the organization, Bulla said

“CASA only stay’s open only by grants, donation and fundraisers,” Bulla said.

Although the organization is not a state-funded program, volunteers know the well-being of the children is greater, Bulla said.

The Coles County CASA program is a not-for-profit corporation, which recruits, trains and monitors volunteers who advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children brought into the Coles County juvenile court system.

The volunteers work through the juvenile court system to facilitate prompt delivery of services and to make independent recommendations to the court concerning the child’s well-being.

Bulla said the program’s responsibilities are important in making the difference in a child’s life, and this is the reason why these children need this volunteer or advocate.

“A CASA volunteer or guardian ad litem advocates for the purpose of representing the child’s best interest,” Bulla said.

Becoming a volunteer is not an easy task, she said.

Along with the vigorous hours of training and interviewing a volunteer has to be specially designed for this type of work.

The organization gives individual attention to each case by providing one volunteer per child. Volunteers are able to spend as much time necessary, in order to gather enough information about the child.

A volunteer is there for the child when the trial begins and stays with the case until the case is closed.

The organization started in 1976, when Superior Court Judge David Soukup, of Seattle, became concerned with the decisions regarding abused and neglected children’s lives without sufficient information.

Soukup had the idea of using trained volunteers or Court Appointed Special Advocates, to gather information about the children and bring it to court.

By 1990, Congress supported the expansion of the organization with the passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act.

“Taking the bad and turning it into something good is the best feeling,” Bulla said.

Rashida Lyles Cowan can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.