CASA of Los Angeles is very proud to announce that Darlane Jespersenhas been selected CASA Volunteer of the Year 2008.

Congratulations to Darlane Jespersen, our 2008 CASA Volunteer of the Year!!! Darlane has been a voice for CASA children and the CASA program since 1996.

Darlane is such a giving person, one who has always cared about children and their well-being. She has been involved in the children’s program at her church, volunteered at a local residential treatment center in the children’s respite unit, and at a foster care agency with the younger children.

After reading Gay Courter’s book, I Speak for This Child, Darlane was so impressed with Courter’s advocacy that she sought out CASA of Los Angeles to become involved. She was immediately drawn to the CASA concept and knew it was something she had to do. One of Darlane’s favorite quotes is “Doing the right thing, is always the right thing to do,” and Darlane says she definitely felt becoming a CASA volunteer was the right thing to do.

Darlane has made a difference in the lives of more than ten CASA children. She also volunteers one day a week as a Children’s Court Assistant in Shelter Care, making sure the children that are brought to court understand the process and also providing support as she escorts them to their court hearings.

As we all know, CASA cases are challenging and can be frustrating. Darlane said, “As a CASA, I was overwhelmed and intimidated at first, but I’ve gotten better at knowing when to push, when to just listen, and when to back off and try again later. The main thing has always been to keep asking myself: What is the best for my CASA child?”

Another of Darlane’s favorite quotes is “Life is at its best when shaken and stirred,” and she says she feels she has definitely been shaken and stirred as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. One such case is that of “Danny”, who had been placed with an adoptive family, along with a much younger sister, and parental rights had been terminated. Darlane was appointed to Danny in 2002 when he was 10 years old. His adoptive parents had changed their minds about adopting Danny because of his “difficult” behavior, and so Danny had been removed and separated from his sister.

Subsequently, Danny went through several foster homes, prospective adoptive homes, and group homes, and Darlane has been there to offer consistency throughout his replacements, ensuring that the right services were in place for him, along with making sure his educational needs were being met. There were many team meetings held regarding Danny’s “acting out’ behavior. Overall, the team’s assessments of Danny were negative, except for Darlane, who saw a lot of potential in him and worked hard to make sure that everyone else did, too.

Primarily because of Darlane’s advocacy, at 15 years old, Danny is now in a loving and caring adoptive home, and Darlane is making sure Danny and his new pre-adoptive mother receive the supportive services they need in order for a successful adoption to occur.

Apart from her greatest roles in life as a wife, mother, and (new) grandmother, Darlane says that CASA also defines who she is and what she does. She said her family is a great supporter of her CASA volunteer work, and, in conversations with friends, they frequently ask her about her work as a CASA.

Darlane said, “In the last 12 years, being involved with CASA, I have felt every emotion there is to feel. It has been frustrating at times, challenging all of the time, but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life, because it is all about the child.”

Thank you Darlane, you truly are the “salt of the earth” and a gift to children and to CASA of Los Angeles.