Sixth Judicial District CASA / GAL

There is a CASA Volunteer TRAINING Wednesday March 17th at 5:30 in the District Court Room in Livingston.   Presenters will be from Montana Youth Challenge and Junior Achievement of MT. These programs offer solutions for children aging out of the system  and teach youth the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

Montana Youth Challenge

Livingston – The Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL Program, Inc.  of Park and Sweet Grass Counties has just been awarded certification by the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association.   This certification recognizes that the local CASA/GAL is in compliance with National CASA’s high standards for quality child advocacy.

According to Michael Piraino, CEO of the National CASA Association, “The National CASA quality assurance process is very rigorous, and reflects our commitment to ensure every child we serve has the most powerful volunteer advocate working on their behalf.  This certification says, “The Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL Program, Inc.  has demonstrated to us a strong capacity to provide excellent services to the abused and neglected children within their community.”

The Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL Program, Inc.  was started accepting cases January 2004. Currently all children with cases have been assigned a CASA who works hard to ensure the child’s best interest is protected.  When speaking on our local CASA programs volunteers, Wm Nels Swandal said they are, “dedicated advocates who are genuinely concerned for the children and are generous with their time. They spend hours investigating each case and compiling thorough reports which are essential in determining the best interest of the abused and neglected children.”

About the National CASA Association
In 1976, concerned over making decisions decision about abused and neglected children’s lives without sufficient information, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court, helping to ensure that they will live in a safe and loving environment. So successful was the Seattle program, that soon judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates.  In 1990, the U.S. Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA/GAL with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act.  Today, there are more than 950 National CASA member programs across the country, with more than 70,000 men and women serving as CASA or Guardian Ad Litem volunteers.

The January 2010 Edition of  Montana Best Times Newspaper recently printed an article called, ” Child advocate fearlessly stands up for kids.”  The article highlighted a 16 year CASA volunteer Sherri Noel of Eastern MT, who is very dedicated speaking up for abused and neglected children in Montana. She describes some of her experiences while working on cases and tells about her involvement with the CASA program.  To read the complete article contact Montana Best Times @ http://www.casagal.org/images/SherryNoelArticleComplete.pdf

This month CASA is givings a SBS – Shaken Baby Syndrome Presentation on January 27, 2010 at 5:30pm at the Court House. The presentation covers the harmful physical and neurological affects SBS has on infants.

Grant Proposal Writing Workshop
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Livingston, Montana

Instructor:  Janet Cornish, Community Development Services of Montana

As competition for funding has become more brisk, good proposal writing skills are critical for managers in both the public and private sectors. This one day seminar will provide participants with key strategies to help them put their best foot forward on paper, while “demystifying” the grants process.  Topics will include the following:

• Assessing Need and Setting Priorities
• Identifying Projects and Reviewing Solutions
• Identifying Grant Sources and Associated Requirements
• Preparing Strong Proposals
• Preparing Budgets
• Managing Successful Programs

About the Instructor — Janet Cornish is the owner and principal of Community Development Services of Montana.   She holds a B.A. Degree from the University of Wisconsin in Political Science and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.  She has 32 years of experience in public administration focused in community planning, downtown redevelopment, historic preservation, and municipal finance, particularly in the area of tax increment financing.    Janet also has considerable expertise in public-private partnership development, meeting facilitation, program design, and non-profit corporate management and strategic planning.  She presents seminars in grant proposal writing, through various units of the university system and is on the adjunct faculty of Montana Tech where she teaches courses for the Professional and Technical Communications Department.

Espresso Depot Caffé  D’arte
Taste the Difference
Montana’s Finest Espresso
Dwight & Kitty Krohme
Owners
1404 E. Park St. Livingston MT
(406) 222 - 2231

CASA is working with the management and staff at Caffé D’arte and would like you to join us in helping a family in need this Holiday Season.  We want to help a family from Park County have a brighter holiday by donating 5% of our sales and 100% of our tips every Monday, beginning November 2, 2009 through December 21, 2009, to provide gift cards for food, clothing and gasoline, as well as other items needed by the family.

Members of the community can help by nominating families they know, who are in need and can use some help this season.  The nomination should include a brief description of the family and their circumstances, which can be provided on the nomination form below, as well as, ages and sizes of family members, and their top three financial needs such as (but not limited to), food, clothing, medical, utilities, haircuts, toiletries, cleaning supplies, school supplies, toys and books.  For each nomination, the nominator’s name will be entered in a raffle, the winner of which will receive a Caffé D’arte gift card in the amount of $30.00.  Please submit your name, address, and telephone number on the attached form.

We welcome donations from our friends in the community, as well.  Every donation can help us make the holidays a little brighter for a family in need. We have all felt the pinch of this economy, but some have been hit hard, and we can all make a difference by giving what we can.

We at Caffé D’arte are excited about helping a family in need this year and hope you will be too!  Thank you for caring and sharing!! Call with questions or to obtain nomination forms.

Jordan says her hunt was a, "really cool experience."

The 2009 Fourth Annual Bugle for Kids was won by two very lucky individuals, Jordan Moody of Big Timber and Kelly Juvan from Livingston.  Kelly has graciously given his ticket to Becky Bergsing and her son Gunner both Livingston residents.

Both Gunner and Jordan shot their elk over the Halloween weekend at the Twelve Springs and West Boulder Ranches. Jordan was able to make the hunt successful with only one shot while it was Gunners first time to shoot an elk.

During his hunt, Gunner saw a, "big black wolf chasing a cow."

We want to thank all those involved and in support of the Bugle for Kids 2009 Raffle.  Thanks to Yellowstone Gateway Sports in Livingston, and  The Fort in Big Timber for selling tickets.  We really appreciate all the contributions, especially the generosity of Ron and Susie Dollens, Denny and Susanne Ware of the Twelve Springs Ranch, and Tom and Meredith Brokaw of the West Boulder Ranch. Without them, this event would not have taken place and had such impacting moments in the lives of these two youth.

The Hunt
By Jordan Moody

“My hunt that I went on Friday, Oct. 30 was a really cool experience. I was guided by Lonnie Clark from the 12 Springs Ranch. We started out at about seven o’clock and were driving up the road when he spotted about 200 elk in a barley field below, we decided to go up on top of the ridge above the elk so we could glass and see how many bulls there were. Once we got there we saw a lot of really nice bulls and some spikes and other smaller ones. The wind was blowing very very hard making it difficult to hold my binoculars steady and so most of the time I had no idea what Lonnie, my dad, and Harv were talking about when they were pointing out various bulls. Finally the wind slowed down a little and I could see a bunch of them! The elk started making their way up the hill toward us so we moved into a good position a short distance away from their trail. I was very nervous as the first spike, the first elk of the bunch, came slowly up the hill. They had told me the one I wanted to shoot was the third one to come up into sight. I began looking through the scope of my gun and saw the one I wanted. Suddenly the bull caught our scent and held its head up looking around, everyone thought it would run away but it began walking more and more up the hill then stopped in the perfect position for me to take a shot. I squeezed the trigger. I then asked my dad if I had hit it and they all replied “NO.” I was very disappointed so I jacked another shell in the chamber and as I went to aim again, he collapsed, I had hit it on the first shot! My dad used his range finder and ranged the shot at 68 yards. As we walked up to it, we saw the bullet hole, my 25-06 had managed to make it in one side and out the other. After we gutted it and moved it down to a place where Lonnie could get it with the tractor, and finally got it home, Lonnies wife Laura Lee cooked us a very good breakfast and we headed home.”

Elk Hunting
By Gunner Bergsing

“First we went up on this hill and waited for awhile looking for elk and then we drove passed the hay barley field and they were there. So we went to this other hill and the elk usually come to this draw right next to us. So then we waited awhile watching them. They were acting weird so Lonnie started up the CAT so they would get moving. They ran farther away from us into this patch of trees. So we went and watched them by the road. Cody was watching them and he saw a big black wolf chasing a cow. The elk was going to cross the fence so we got out. My first shot was right below its shoulder. I shot it two more times but missed. It ran off and we chased it for like a mile or more. We could not catch up to it, we had a heard less than 70 yards away from us walking. The bull took a different route up this steep mountain, so we chased it another mile as it ran into some trees. We followed its trail to find it. It is pretty big 4-4. Thanks so much for this opportunity and thanks Doug and Lonnie for guiding me and helping me shoot my first elk.”

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 Bugle for Kids Raffle!  The lucky individuals are Jordan Moody from Big Timber and Kelly Juvan from Livingston.  Kelly has graciously given his ticket to Becky Bergsing and her son Gunner both Livingston residents.  The drawing was held at the Fort in Big Timber at around 1pm on Oct. 22, 2009. A big thanks goes out to all those involved and in support of the Bugle for Kids 2009 Raffle.  We really appreciate all the contributions and wish the hunters the best of luck!

Is your child ready for life and learning? Prepare your child
with this free check-up performed by pediatric specialists from
Livingston HealthCare, Community Health Partners, the Park
County Special Education Coop, HRDC Head Start, Family Outreach,
and Eyecare Professionals. For children birth – 5 years old, these
screenings take approximately 90 minutes and include:
• Physical check-up
• Physical skills check-up
• Speech & language check-up
• Learning readiness check
• Vision screen
• Hearing screen
• Snacks and other fun activities
September 26
8:30 am–2:30 pm
East Side School
Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are recommended.
Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For more information click this link readysetgrow-ad-final-2009 or call 220-0026.