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Kendall CASA board leader dedicated to making sure every child feels safe · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Kendall KAZA board leader dedicated to making sure every child
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  Speaker 1: feels safe. Written by Eric Shelkoff, this article is being
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  Speaker 1: read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett
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  Speaker 1: Seeing Hammond knows that every child deserves to feel safe.
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  Speaker 1: Hammon is president of the Board of Directors for KASA
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  Speaker 1: Kendall County. KASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate, a
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  Speaker 1: nonprofit volunteer organization that works to represent the best interests
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  Speaker 1: of abused and neglected children within the juvenile court system.
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  Speaker 1: Before becoming board president in February twenty twenty five, she
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  Speaker 1: had volunteered as an advocate for the group for several years.
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  Speaker 1: We are there to support the organization and help them
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  Speaker 1: be as effective in helping these children as they can
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  Speaker 1: possibly be. Hammond said, everyone on the board also is
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  Speaker 1: a volunteer. I retired early, and I thought this was
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  Speaker 1: my time to help someone else. Hammond said. We advocate
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  Speaker 1: for kids in foster care. We advocate for kids who
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  Speaker 1: have experienced abuse or neglect. May is Foster Parent Appreciation Month.
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  Speaker 1: To become an advocate, a person goes through forty hours
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  Speaker 1: of training. Their advocates come from a variety of backgrounds.
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  Speaker 1: We have people who are retired and we have people
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  Speaker 1: who are still working. She said. I was in training
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  Speaker 1: with a woman who was becoming an advocate and she
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  Speaker 1: had eight children of her own. When an advocate is
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  Speaker 1: assigned to each case, Hammond said, they stay with the
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  Speaker 1: case from beginning to end. We have to make a
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  Speaker 1: written report to the judge at every hearing as to
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  Speaker 1: what we think is in the best interest. We look
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  Speaker 1: out for the child regardless of anything else. Zah Kendall
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  Speaker 1: County is handling ninety seven cases in spring twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: When Hammond started with the group, it was handling between
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  Speaker 1: thirty and forty cases. I think last year we served
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  Speaker 1: about two hundred children, she said. Kazah Kendall County is
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  Speaker 1: a Guardian ad Lightened program. It's a legal representation for
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  Speaker 1: a child in legal cases. Hammond said, like in a divorce,
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  Speaker 1: if the parents don't agree on visitation or whether the
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  Speaker 1: child should go to this school or that school, the
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  Speaker 1: court appoints a guardian ad litem and they are a
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  Speaker 1: legal representation for that child. Not all KAZA organizations are gals,
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  Speaker 1: but we are. If we weren't volunteering, the county would
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  Speaker 1: have to hire an attorney to serve as the guardian
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  Speaker 1: ad lightem for these kids like they do in civil court.
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  Speaker 1: Hammond also lends a helping hand in other ways. She
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  Speaker 1: delivers meals as part of the Meals on Wheels program,
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  Speaker 1: which also provides wellness checks on older adults and individuals
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  Speaker 1: with disabilities. She delivers out of the Beecher Community Center
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  Speaker 1: in Yorkville. Before becoming a KAZA advocate, Hammond was involved
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  Speaker 1: in the Big Brother's Big Sisters program. Those involved in
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  Speaker 1: the program act as mentors to youths. Hammond said she
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  Speaker 1: is happy that organizations like Kaza Kendall County can provide
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  Speaker 1: help these kids. They go through so much. She said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm proud that we can be there for these kids
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  Speaker 1: and be that consistency for them and try to help
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  Speaker 1: give them a loving, secure home. However, she said the
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  Speaker 1: group needs more volunteers. For information, visit the Kazakh Kendall
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  Speaker 1: County website at Kasakndall County dot org