Letter from the Executive Director Dear CASA Volunteers, Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and a pleasant end to 2021. Each January, I like to reflect on all that was accomplished over the past twelve months while renewing our focus on what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. 2021 was a year which proved CASA's strength. Despite the ever-changing pandemic obstacles and the fact that child abuse cases continue to be referred to us at a higher-than-normal rate, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region is stronger than ever. Financially, we are on solid ground which you will see in our 2020-2021 annual report being published later this month. We closed out the calendar year with a strong turnout to Santa's Shop. Our staff returned to the office full time in 2021, volunteers returned to advocating in-person at the courthouse in 2021, SEPT visits returned to in-person, and we successfully hosted two in-person Light of Hope events. Now that we have rounded the corner into 2022, we are cautiously optimistic that our flagship Light of Hope event this April will be held in-person. We have however decided to move the Annual CASA-wide Volunteer Impact Event slated for next month to a virtual format. You can read more about that below. A major focus over the coming months will be to recruit as many volunteers as we can, and we plan to meet this challenge head-on by increasing the number of advocate training classes held in 2022. The next Volunteer Information Session will be held over Zoom on Jan. 25, so please pass that along to anyone you know who would make a great CASA volunteer! I also wanted to let you know that part of our membership with the National CASA Network is compliance with the National CASA Standards for Local Programs, which was revised last year. In the coming months, you will see some updates to policies and procedures as we work to maintain and/or gain alignment with these revised standards. In addition, some grant requirements have changed resulting in necessary updates to our background check process. New volunteers will be required to complete additional background checks, which current volunteers will complete when it is time for their background checks to be renewed. With all of these updates and new requirements, we have been working hard to create a streamlined process to ensure we are in compliance. All changes that will impact you as a volunteer will be communicated in a clear and timely manner. We thank you in advance for your help in adjusting to these updates as this allows us all to continue to focus on our very important work in this community. As always, please reach out to me any time at angelar@casappr.org with questions, concerns, or comments. Warmly, Angela | 
