‘Growing hope’: Advocates for Children commends top CASAs at annual meeting

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Serving as “part of the solution,” Ava Lipscomb and Kim Martin were commended for their steadfast commitment to help secure loving, permanent homes for children in need. In honor of their service to the Court Appointed Special Advocates, they were honored at Advocates for Children’s annual meeting Tuesday.

A CASA volunteer since 2012, Martin captured one of the luncheon’s top accolades — the CASA of the Year award. Also receiving recognition were Josh Harrell with the CAC Award and Heatco, Corporate Partner of the Year.

After announcing Martin, Lipscomb — director of Bartow County’s CASA — was praised for her 20 years of service. Now 65, the Pine Log resident will be retiring Friday.

“It’s heartbreaking when I see children pay the price for adults who cannot or do not make good decisions,” Martin said. “Children who are in the foster care system are there due to no fault of their own, yet they end up paying the ultimate price for the bad decisions of their caregivers.

“This is such a traumatic event for a child and they struggle as to why they can’t see their birth parents and wonder what they did wrong and just want to go home. Feeling unwanted or not worthy of love penetrates every relationship this child has or will have, and I realized I can either accept the situation or be part of the solution and be a Court Appointed Special Advocate.”

Over the past seven years, Martin has worked on five cases involving 14 children. One of her most memorable centered around four children with different fathers. Living in an “extremely unsafe environment,” their mother was supporting her family through “illegal means.”

“After much searching, the challenges came finding each father and then knowing their extended families knew of the unsafe actions of the mother and did nothing to change the situation,” Martin said. “After several years in foster care, one boy was joyously reunited with his father and now lives on a farm in Alabama with his family.

“The three other siblings were adopted by a family in Bartow County. The unfortunate part is the biological mother truly believed she was serving her children better than her own mother. It makes you wonder what type of destructive environment she grew up in; through adoption the third generation of this family tree now has the opportunity to break the cycle and flourish.”

When introducing Martin at Advocate’s annual meeting, Lipscomb called the Cartersville resident a “go-getter” who is known for her “tenacity.”

“Kim works full time, so she only has one case at a time, but she can handle a difficult case,” Lipscomb said, following the ceremony. “She has no problem putting in the time to really dig deep and finding all the pieces that are trying to be buried.

“She loves the children she advocates for and everything she does is to try to help make their life better. She received the award because of her ongoing dedication to the children of Bartow County and because of her diligence in staying with a very difficult case over the past two years.”

Striving to make a difference, Martin looked into CASA about eight years ago and signed up for the valuable training class. Along with being a wife and mother, she serves as the director of the Teacher Resource Center in Cartersville.

“My children are grown and this was an opportunity to give back to my community and hopefully be a positive influence,” she said. “The training was comprehensive; over 30 hours of classroom preparation and 10 hours of actual courtroom observation, which gave me the confidence to become a successful advocate and an informed picture of the work I would be doing along with the commitment it requires. As sworn officers of the court for the judge, we advocated for the children in the foster care system guaranteeing the judge will hear the children’s wishes.”

As a CASA, Martin shared volunteers evaluate a child's situation by talking with those closest to them, such as relatives and day-care providers. After conducting the interviews, advocates will make a recommendation to the judge, regarding where the youth should be permanently placed.

“The focus of a CASA volunteer is to be a gatherer of information, which gives me the opportunity to interact with all the individuals in the foster child’s life,” Martin said. “Speaking with the birth parents, teachers, counselors, neighbors, family members, even the school bus driver, and most importantly the children, I am able to use this information to create a comprehensive picture of the child’s situation.

“Sharing the facts, not opinions in a foster care case to the judge, is vital to building a promising future for the birth parents and children involved in the case. Basically, it involves a lot of communication, follow through and a bit of cajoling when things are not going as planned.”

In addition to feeling prepared due to her training, Martin said she received essential support from Lipscomb, noting she “made me feel appreciated, loved and valued as part of her team.” Tina Hudson — a member of Advocates’ board of trustees — also applauded Lipscomb’s service, highlighting her commitment to those assembled at Advocates’ annual meeting.

“Years from now when this community reads the history behind Bartow’s CASA, Ava — we hope you know that — you will forever be regarded as the hero of our story,” Hudson told the crowd at the Clarence Brown Conference Center. “This courageous woman, who dedicated her life to something bigger than herself.

“Ava’s amazing career [accomplishments] span almost 20 years. Every day has been spent protecting children’s lives, to [obtain] a safe and loving home. She takes countless hours training hundreds of volunteers to a higher potential of serving children in our community.”

Initially joining Bartow CASA in a part-time capacity, Lipscomb is pleased with the program’s development over the past two decades.

“I had a vision for how I wanted the program to grow and what I wanted the program to accomplish,” she said. “When I think of all the children we have helped, it makes me feel hopeful for our children.

“…Children in foster care need a CASA, and unfortunately we don't have enough CASAs for all of the children. As much as the children receive, I think the volunteers receive more. It's not always easy, but helping one child in this life gives you purpose.”

Based in Cartersville, Bartow CASA operates under the umbrella of Advocates for Children, which assisted 6,723 area youth and 2,118 adults in 2019. Along with Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter, Advocates provides numerous programs that aid in the awareness, prevention and treatment of child abuse.

“DFCS [Department of Family and Children Services] workers have far too many cases to focus on each child on their caseload,” Lipscomb said. “Most CASAs only have one or two cases, depending on their availability, and have time to gather this information to present to the court and to DFCS. The CASAs also spend more time with the child and get to know them better, what their wishes are, and that can also be shared with the court.”

In recognition of its service, Bartow CASA won the Established Program Award of Excellence and the Innovative Award of Excellence from Georgia CASA in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

Currently consisting of 69 volunteers, Bartow CASA has trained 319 volunteers who have assisted 1,871 children in state custody since its inception in 2000. Last year, 74 CASA volunteers lent 6,203 hours of their time to serve 271 children.

The program's next training session for volunteers — who must be at least 21, pass several background checks and provide references — will start Feb. 18 at the CASA office. The complimentary class will be presented at 654 Joe Frank Harris Parkway in Cartersville.

Calling the rewards of being a CASA volunteer “numerous,” Martin shared “encouraging parents to meet the challenges so their children can return to a safe and loving home is extremely difficult for many but it does happen and it is exciting. Some birth parents just need a chance to know what this looks like and create a home for their children. Being part of the judicial system and watching the community rally to the success and create every opportunity for birth parents to succeed truly impacts the entire principles of our community.

“Through parenting classes, drug rehab, counseling for mental instability, and housing, offering transportation to visit with the children, educational and job opportunities, lives are improved. The judicial system does not remove the rights of parents without empowering them to be successful and when the parents fail to meet the needs of their children the decision is easy. The children are then given the opportunity to be adopted into a safe and loving home in which to thrive.”

For more information about enrolling in the upcoming volunteer training, call the CASA office at 770-386-1060 and speak with Emily Ciavarro or Liz Fox.