Sixth Judicial District CASA / GAL

CASA/GAL of Livingston and Sweet Grass Counties will participate in Livingston’s 2009 Annual Roundup 4th of July parade this year! Come and watch as we hand out candy and raise awareness for CASA/GAL in our area. The Livingston Area Chamber welcomes businesses, organizations, groups and families to come and join the theme parade, Like a Rhinestone Cowboy, “Celebrating our rich heritage.” The parade starts at 3PM on Main Street, July, 2nd 2009.

4th of July Parade

The Livingston Job Service is hosting a Community Resource Fair on June 23, Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL program is joining the staff of the Livingston Job Service in an outreach effort toward the awareness/availability of local community resources and information.  The event will be at the Park County Fairgrounds in Livingston.

Visitors will be encouraged to view our display to find out more about the services Park and Sweet Grass County CASA/GAL Program offers after a brief presentation about the benefits available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

To find more information about this event, view the public announcements in the Livingston Enterprise, Livingston Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, Gardiner Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, or visit the Livingston Job Service website at:

http://wsd.dli.mt.gov/local/livingston/

Everyone is welcome to come and help make this a community success!

Linda Pattengale

The Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL program is happy to welcome Linda Pattengale as our new Program Administrator. Linda grew up for the most part in Livingston, MT but has been away for about 5 years completing her Business Administration Degree at the University of Montana Western, in Dillon MT. She is exited to help spread awareness and develop programs that will involve the community in serving the children in Park and Sweet Grass counties. She is an outdoor enthusiast and an artist. She welcomes any new ideas for change or improvement for our web or operations. Feel free to contact her with concerns, comments or questions at 406-222-4904.

Mary Cremer announces Honorable Nels Swandel as MT CASA Judge of the Year 2009

This April at the State CASA/CAN Conference in Helena, our own district judge, the Honorable Nels Swandal, was chosen as Montana CASA Judge of the Year for 2009! Locally we hosted a reception for the Judge at the Best Western Yellowstone Motor Inn on Thursday, May 28th. This was both an individual honor as well as a program honor.  It shows that we are all working together for the Abused and Neglected children in the Sixth District.

During this reception we also swore in the new 2009 volunteers. CASA now has 30 volunteers serving abused and neglected children of Park and Sweet Grass Counties.

Congratulations to all our Volunteers who do such great work!

New CASA/GAL Volunteers are sworn in.

A big thanks goes out to “My Stuff Bags Foundation” for their generous contribution to the Sixth Judicial District CASA/GAL Program volunteers who will be presenting these gifts to case children. These really cool bags have tons of fun and exciting things to help make a child feel loved and wanted. The My Stuff Bags Foundation provides comfort and a message of hope to abused and neglected children entering crisis and foster care through its unique program, My Stuff Bags.

Sadly, more than 300,000 children across America must be rescued each year from dangerous home environments. That’s over 34 children per hour! Traumatized by the events leading to their rescue, these children often arrive without any of their own belongings: no favorite stuffed animal, no special “blankie.” They are afraid and need something to hold onto!  You can find more about “My Stuff Bags” at http://www.mystuffbags.org.