Community Walk Focuses on Child Abuse Prevention & Awareness

By Misty Cryer

The community is invited to attend the annual Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Walk on Thursday, April 30. The walk begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) office at 901 Debaca Street and ends at the Eddy County District Court at 102 N. Canal Street. An event featuring speakers, free food, and activities will follow on the courthouse lawn.

“Any community partners that would like to come and bring a booth, contact Clarisa Saenz. She’s our Assistant Director,” said Amy Wright, Executive Director of Eddy County CASA. Saenz can be reached at 575-361-8403 and can provide details on setting up a booth with activities.

The walk is a joint effort with the following partnering agencies: CYFD, YDI (Youth Development, Inc.), Affirming Heart Victim Services, and Eddy County CASA, said Wright. The agencies will provide free food and refreshments to the public, including hot dogs from Cali Bacon Dogs, popcorn, snow cones, and water, she said.

“As far as activities go, we have asked our community partners—mostly nonprofits, but anybody who is willing and able—to come and join us, to set up a booth at the courthouse and have an activity for people to do,” said Wright.

“For several years, we have done these walks, and it is for child abuse prevention and awareness,” she said. “That’s the purpose of the walk.”

Wright encourages the community to join them. “The more the better,” she said.

Eddy County CASA always does recruitment events and outreach presentations. “We’re asking the community for opportunities to speak,” said Wright. For instance, she said, they speak to church groups and community organizations. “I have an appointment to speak for CNB. They have a lot of employees, and they give the opportunity sometimes for nonprofits to go and talk about the needs, so that’s really a neat thing,” she said.

Wright explained that CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. “What we do is we recruit volunteers from the community, just everyday citizens from all walks of life,” she said. The volunteers are trained in how to advocate for children in the foster care system, while CASA staff provide support and supervision as they carry those cases.

“A CASA will go through 30 hours of preservice training as required by the National CASA Association,” said Wright, adding that they have background checks, and volunteers must be at least 21 years of age or older.

“Once they complete that 30-hour preservice training, they are eligible to be assigned a case,” said Wright. She explained that one case is one family, which could consist of one child or a few, like a sibling set.

“It is quite a commitment that is being asked of them on a volunteer basis, but the idea is they stay for the life of the case,” said Wright.

Noting that the kids often have multiple foster homes, caseworkers, therapists, schools, and placements, Wright said the CASA becomes the one constant person along the journey to help the child navigate the process through the court case. “They are just going through a lot; it is a very traumatic time,” she said.

Wright explained that the CASA gets to know the child or children very well during their independent investigation, which may include interviewing biological parents, foster (resource) parents, teachers, social workers, attorneys, and doctors—basically, anybody involved in the case.

“The CASA has the ability to interview them and get a really well-rounded picture of everything that is going on between the child and all of these adults, so whenever it is time for the court hearing, they have a report that is very informational—sort of the eyes and ears for the judge—and another viewpoint so the judge can make sound decisions,” said Wright, adding, “because these decisions impact the child’s life for the rest of their life.”

To maintain the funding tier with the State of New Mexico, the organization needs between 35 and 41 volunteers. “We are working on that, and we still have some ways to go,” said Wright. She said when she began working in June 2024, there were three volunteers. Through losses and gains, they currently have eight active volunteers with four in training. “We are making progress,” she said.