April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
By Gordon Hopkins
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As a way to illustrate the extent of what is often an unseen problem, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Southeast Nebraska lined up 119 pairs of shoes on the steps of the Jefferson County Courthouse. Each pair of shoes represents one call to report child abuse or neglect in Jefferson County in 2024. There is also a table on the main floor of the county courthouse with information about CASA.
CASA of Southeast Nebraska recruits, trains and supports community volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children in the Seward, Saline, Thayer and Jefferson court system.
While the month illustrates the importance of the work done CASA of Southeast Nebraska, it is also a reminder of the struggles CASA continues to face in serving the community.
Executive Director Shelby Pedersn gave an update to Jefferson County Commissioners earlier this year at a meeting on February 24, “Well, we’re not having much luck getting volunteers right now. The other issue that we’re running into is not a lot of cases are being filed. So, we don’t want to get seven, eight, nine volunteers that are just sitting and waiting for a case.”
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edersen reminded commissioners that just because cases are being filed, that doesn’t mean abuse isn’t happening, “If there’s no cases, then our volunteers don’t have anything to do so and it’s kind of a double-edged sword. I don’t want there to be more cases, but also there is abuse and neglect happening. There’s just not a lot of cases being filed right now. And that’s not just Jefferson County. That is all four of the counties that we serve.”
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f cases are not filed and participation court ordered, then CASA is not able to address child abuse in the home unless families voluntarily participate in the program. While CASA does see some voluntary cases, they come with their own problems.
“I know right now the department really wants to work voluntary cases to try to keep kids home. And I can understand that,” said Pedersen. “Sometimes we’ll see families on there for years that are working voluntary cases, and that gets hard for us to see, because it’s voluntary, so they’re kind of doing whatever they feel they want to. Whereas, if the court was involved, Judge (Linda) Bauer could say, ‘No, you are going to do this.’”
