Advocating for at-risk children – CASA for Lancaster County

Topic: Lincoln South Rotary Club Meeting 2024_0531

Time: May 31, 2024 11:30 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Reservations are not required to attend in person.
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Meeting ID: 810 4749 3784

Dawn Rockey joined CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Lancaster County as Executive Director in December 2006.

 

Dawn came to CASA with a background in state government and commercial banking.  Dawn worked for the State of Nebraska for 12 years, in both the legislative and executive branches, serving as Nebraska State Treasurer from 1991-1995.  She spent the next nearly 12 years with First National Bank of Omaha in several commercial banking related positions and as a Second Vice President in Treasury Services working with corporate bank customers on their cash management needs. 

 

Dawn has served as President and Treasurer of the Human Services Federation (now Cause Collective Lincoln), currently chairing the Cause Collective-LPS Task Group. She served on the Lincoln Electric System Administrative Board, the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, the Nebraska CASA Association, and the United Way Board. Dawn currently serves on the board of Aiding Angels, and the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation board.

 

Dawn is a graduate of UNL, with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs (1984) and completed graduate hours in Public Administration and Political Science. She has lived in Lincoln for more than 40 years.  Her husband, Brian, is the Director of the Nebraska Lottery and they have a 25-year-old son.

 

CASA or Court Appointed Special Advocates for Lancaster County is a local non-profit organization that recruits, trains and supports community volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in juvenile court. CASA volunteers get to know their assigned children and gather information. Volunteers then submit reports directly to the judge with their findings and recommendations. The goal is to provide the judge with more information and to move the children more quickly to permanency (a safe, stable, permanent home). CASA volunteers keep cases moving and make sure children and their families are receiving the services they need to correct the problems that brought them into the system. 

 

Ultimately, the role of the CASA volunteer is to make recommendations that are in the children’s best interests.