CASA of Northeast Oklahoma

About CASA of Northeast Oklahoma

On March 5, 1995, Ryan Luke, a little boy from McAlester, Oklahoma, died from a child abuse-related head injury. Oklahomans were outraged. Many galvanized their outrage into movements to help children. It was no different in Rogers, Mayes, Craig, Ottawa, Delaware, and Washington Counties. In memory of Ryan Luke, a group of concerned citizens wanted to ensure that children had trained citizen advocates who would visit them regularly and speak up when a child’s best interests were not being honored. They decided to start a court-appointed special advocate program. CASA of Northeast Oklahoma believes every child deserves to grow up in a safe, permanent, nurturing home. We believe children need walls to put their pictures on, adults who love them, and families who nurture them and make their health, education, and well-being a priority. We are for children… …who are victims of addiction, who slowly watch their parents killing themselves with substances. Children like Marissa, born addicted to methamphetamine. …who live in a war zone, who witness their parents hurting one another in domestic violence situations. Children like Curtis, who thinks love is supposed to hurt. That it’s okay to exert power and control over a partner. Who has post-traumatic stress disorder, a diagnosis usually reserved for veterans of war. …whose parents are caught in the spiral of untreated mental illness. Children like Evie who rarely goes to school. Her mother, Vicki, can barely get out of bed to tend to her own needs, let alone that of Evie and her siblings. Evie stays home, forfeiting her education and development to assure that Max and Shanie, her twin baby brothers, get their needs met. …who live in abject poverty, whose parents live off a system that was never intended to support them. Children like Frank who rarely see a doctor or dentist. Who don’t get to eat at night. We are working to change stories like these.

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