April 19-25, 2009 is National Volunteer Appreciation Week and the Arizona Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program is honoring the work of a husband and wife volunteer team for their work with abused and neglected children. David and Suzanne Lederman are co-recipients of the 2009 CASA Volunteer of the Year. This statewide recognition award is given annually by the Arizona CASA state office, which is administered by the Arizona Supreme Court.

The Ledermans have volunteered as child advocates since 2002 and have served twelve foster children in four separate cases, specializing with sibling groups who are in out-of-home care. David and Suzanne have helped find "forever homes" for eleven of their assigned children and are still working with one fourteen year-old boy who was assigned to them at age eight. The Ledermans have been the one stable adult presence in this teenager's life since he was a child and help arrange sibling visitations so that he may see his brother and sister.

According to Bonnie Marcus, Program Manager for the CASA State Office in Arizona, "This award represents extraordinary commitment and service to the children of Gila County and to the community of Globe, Arizona. It is not everyone who can step up, go through the rigorous screening process that we ask of our volunteers, commit to a long-term volunteer experience, and stay the course amidst the frequent challenges that CASA volunteers face. David and Suzanne exemplify what it is that we look for in our advocates, and are being recognized statewide for their contributions to children in foster care."

Myrl Combs has been a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer since 8/14/06. During her two plus years as a CASA she's worked with eight cases involving eleven kids. She's very active in the community at large, educating people within her sphere of influence about the CASA Program and the CASA role. She has a great reputation in the community as someone who is fair and gets things done. Caseworkers will frequently ask for her help, and a CPS supervisor asked "Can we get a CASA like Myrl?" when discussing one of her cases. If CASA office staff has a need, Myrl can be counted on to do what's needed in a timely fashion.

The children Myrl has represented are too young to speak for themselves and may not even realize what she has done for them. Myrl is a solid, reliable, caring influence in their little lives. She supports the case plan whether it be reunification or severance and adoption, but is quick to report to the judge if that plan is not in the child's best interest. She works tirelessly and without prejudice with the biological relatives, foster parents, siblings, CPS, service providers and attorneys.

Myrl serves as corresponding secretary and board member for Yavapai CASA for Kids, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the unmet needs of children who have been removed from their birth parents and to support the work of CASA volunteers. As a board member Myrl is involved in gathering and distributing gifts donated at Christmas time to foster children in out of home care, helping with other various CASA/court functions such as the twice yearly Adoption Day celebrations and other various activities involving foster children. She worked with a committee to gather resources to establish the Family Visiting Center in Prescott with the purpose of providing an atmosphere that's "family friendly" in facilitating visits between parents and children.

Ned completed his CASA certification in January 2007 and was assigned to his first case in on February 2, 2007. Since then he has advocated for four different children. When others turned their back on them or gave up, Ned was there to try one more time and advocate for a solution that would allow them to have another chance to succeed. Ned has taken on extra cases when asked and is always ready to help out a child in need.

As expressed by Benna Troup, one of the attorneys that work dependency cases, "Mr. Letto works very, very hard on his dependency cases. In my case, neither child is cute, cuddly, or fun to be around. Yet Mr. Letto is always in contact with them. He makes sure that they see their parent regularly. He stays in contact with the parent, who is a difficult person. Mr. Letto travels for hours to keep the family connected. He stays in touch with the schools and juvenile probation. He keeps me informed (I am the child s attorney.) We have had at least 4 changes in case managers since the court case began. Mr. Letto is the glue holding the case together. He is also a resource for the foster parents. I trust his judgment implicitly. He is always calm and professional. I wish we could clone him!"

Ned is representative of a CASA Advocate in the community. He was an integral part of the "Go Blue with CASA" child abuse prevention campaign in April. He took two shifts at the Library to bring awareness to the problem of child abuse in Cochise County. Ned was an outstanding spokesman for the CASA Program handing out several applications for the program and answering questions about CASA and child abuse. He participates in the support groups and brown bags with the Judge asking pertinent and thoughtful questions. Ned is committed to improving the community and the lives of others and diligently advocating for the abused and neglected children and youth of Cochise County.



As a CASA, Anne Donahoe is more than just a friendly face making contact with her appointed children. She make regular visits to foster and group homes, sits in on special education meetings at various schools, keeps in contact with the children s therapists, doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers, GALs and assigned CPS case manager in such an unassuming way that to some may project the thought that she is not working a particularly complicated case; however looks are deceiving.

According to Volunteer Coordinator Leslie Blakley, Anne Donahoe is outstanding on any case she's assigned because "she brings a calm yet focused energy to the table. No detail goes unnoticed and probably her strongest skill is her steadfast follow-through. She keeps everyone's eyes on the goal in each of her cases which leads to quicker outcomes on behalf of the kids for whom she s advocating."

Anne began with the CASA Program in 1986 as one of its charter members and has advocated for eleven children and mentored hundreds of CASA volunteers. She has been active in the community working on behalf of foster children for many years and has received letters of thanks from many different Judicial Officers, court staff, and others in the child welfare community.



Each year, the CASA state office in Arizona recognizes the outstanding dedication and commitment of an extraordinary volunteer with the "CASA of the Year Award." Local CASA programs in Arizona submit nominations to the state office and a review committee selects the award recipients.

The committee for 2009 included:

Honorable Maurice Portley, Judge, Court of Appeals
Karen Emery, Deputy Director, Arizona Lottery
Michelle Finet, Director of Donor Relations, National CASA Association
Caroline Lautt-Owens, Director, Dependent Children's Services Division
Rand Rosenbaum, Web Specialist, Arizona CASA Program

This decision-making process is always difficult for committee members, who are presented with many demonstrated examples of the volunteers' commitment to children and the passion they have for the work they do. According to Karen Emery, Arizona Lottery, "Every story was inspiring; you have certainly attracted the best and the brightest to be CASA volunteers!"

The Arizona CASA Program thanks the committee members for their service in 2009 and honors the outstanding contributions made by all the nominees for this award.