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Council honors CASA volunteers; judges and organizers call for more advocates as caseloads rise
Summary
Lexington Fayette Urban County Council recognized Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers March 20, highlighting volunteer hours, Presidential Volunteer Service Award recipients and judges' remarks about high caseloads. Organizers urged more volunteers and provided training and contact information.
Mayor Linda Gorton and members of the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council recognized Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers on March 20, 2025, honoring individuals who assist children in the family court system and urging residents to volunteer.
The presentation, led by Melinda Jamieson, executive director of CASA of Lexington, noted that CASA volunteers in 2024 served “more than 420 Fayette County children,” logged more than 6,000 hours of service, and that 33 local volunteers received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Jamieson asked residents interested in volunteering to visit casaoflexington.org for training and application information.
Why this matters: CASA volunteers provide one-on-one advocacy for children in dependency and neglect cases, a role judges and court staff said is essential as the family court system manages a high volume of new petitions.
Judge Ross Ewing, one of two Fayette County family court judges who spoke at the ceremony, described a typical workday: "In the time it took me to drive here ... I adjudicated five child abuse petitions," and said CASA volunteers provide consistent, child-specific advocacy that busy judges and overworked attorneys cannot always supply. Another judge who spoke, identified in the meeting as Judge Brooks, said several CASA volunteers appeared in her court the prior day and emphasized their smaller caseloads allow them to bring details to the court that inform better decisions for children.
Melinda Jamieson and a council presentation also recapped the Presidential Volunteer Service Award levels and local honorees. According to Jamieson, award thresholds are 100 hours for Bronze, 250 for Silver and 500 for Gold; one local volunteer received the Gold-level award for logging more than 500 hours. Jamieson read the names of multiple winners in the Bronze, Silver and Gold categories and invited those present to the front of the chamber for a group photograph.
Council members and judges emphasized both the value of CASA and the continuing need for volunteers. Jamieson said that volunteers carry “the lifeblood of what we do” and that online and in-person training is available to accommodate volunteers’ schedules. The council presentation included an appeal for more volunteers after Jamieson said CASA served 423 children in Fayette County last year (as reported at the meeting) and that the program’s volunteer capacity needs to expand to meet demand.
The council ceremony was ceremonial in nature; no formal action or funding appropriation for CASA was taken at the March 20 meeting. The council members present joined judges, CASA board members and volunteers for recognition and photographs.
Melinda Jamieson provided the CASA website as a contact point for residents interested in volunteering: casaoflexington.org. Judges and council members expressed gratitude for the volunteers’ work and urged residents to consider applying.
