CASA program celebrates Robb, volunteers for child advocacy
By Jenna Wilson
A local judge is being honored for his work advocating for children ahead of his retirement at the end of this year.
Judge Patrick K. Robb and other local child advocates were celebrated Thursday evening at the 5th Circuit CASA Volunteer Appreciation Banquet, highlighting their efforts to serve abused and neglected kids.
The Missouri Court Appointed Special Advocates is a program where trained volunteers provide a stable presence representing a child’s best interest in court when he or she is removed from the home for reasons of abuse and neglect.
There are currently 166 active CASA advocates in Missouri as of 2024. Almost 325 children were provided services by a CASA advocate in 2024, and 5,542 advocacy hours have been served by Missouri CASA advocates this year.
Robb was recognized upon his retirement for pivoting the CASA volunteer program in Buchanan County. The Fifth Circuit CASA program started as a pilot project in 1987, and within two years of its start, Robb became actively involved in the program after becoming a juvenile court judge 35 years ago.
Robb ensured a rigorous training program was developed for CASA, participated in all training opportunities and acknowledged the input of CASA volunteers at every scheduled court hearing.
“When I started as a juvenile court judge, I saw the cost of the program as a great resource to help work with difficult problems in our juvenile court,” Robb said. “And I worked hard to set up the program so that we would fully have a CASA volunteer for every child that came through our juvenile court system, and we implemented that plan.
“Over the years, we’ve had some great CASA volunteers that have worked in the juvenile court on some very difficult cases and ensured there were positive outcomes for those children,” he said.
Several advocates’ efforts also were celebrated at the banquet, and nearly a dozen awards were handed out to recognize volunteer excellence.
Sheryl Snook was the 2024 Volunteer of the Year recipient, advocating for 37 children, including the 15 she is currently serving since being sworn in as a CASA volunteer by Robb two years ago.
As she enjoys her retirement years, Snook serves as a volunteer in Polo, Lee’s Summit, Savannah, Maryville, Agency, Gower and several other locations.
“These children have a lot of changes going on in their life,” said Melisa Talbott, CASA director. “They have changes in placement, maybe changes in school and changes in caseworkers. These volunteers are their constant person that will follow them through their time in the system and give them that positive adult connection they’re missing.”
The CASA program needs additional area volunteers to help children.
“Right now, we are serving 100% of the children we need to but that’s because some volunteers are doubling, tripling and even quadrupling the number of kids they have,” Talbott said. “It’s volunteers like Sheryl that help us conduct our day-to-day business and we want them to have one to two cases so these children can get the time they deserve.”
