Manchester Training Graduates 12 Advocates, 1 Staff Member

CASA of New Hampshire recently graduated 12 new advocates and 1 new staff member in Manchester this January. These 13 individuals completed 40 hours of pre-service training and will now begin advocating for children in the system that need a voice in court.

The 40 hours of training is broken into ten units. These units prepare new CASAs to preform difficult tasks that they’ll be facing in the process of advocating the child’s best interests. As a CASA, they will be going to court, counseling sessions, parent or IEP meetings. Because of the training, they are now well versed in respectfully confronting conflicting parties; such as parents with addiction, DCYF workers with different opinions, or loving foster parents with strong thoughts. Patience and complete lack of bias are two key concepts that CASAs leave with.

A graduate from the Manchester training said she is excited to get started.

“When the children of New Hampshire are at their most vulnerable, they need adults to step up and step in to represent their best interests,” Shannon Monroe-Davis said. “CASA of New Hampshire training and support gives me the ability to be the voice that speaks for these children. I’m ready to get started!”

There is a constant need for new volunteers, so if you’re considering becoming an advocate, you can view the 2019 training schedule here.

At the end of training, each new volunteer advocate was asked to write a message to a CASA kid from the sample case they simulated. Read their words of encouragement below!

Congratulations and welcome to the following advocates, and thank you for your dedication to New Hampshire’s children! Pictured are: Kelsey AuCoin, Cindy McNickle, Charmaine Bennett, Elizabeth Melendy, Deven Freihofer, Jane Sobolov, David Hill, Caroline Brenner, Pamela Hay, Shannon Monroe-Davis, Jami Wyman, and Cydney Dodge.