Blue pinwheels planted at Havre's Town Square

Local volunteers with Court Appointed Special Advocates joined others Thursday to plant a special garden - a garden of blue pinwheels.

The blue-and-silver pinwheel is the symbol of child abuse prevention, and CASA of Hill County sponsored the garden planting to raise awareness at the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month, April

"This year, Havre will join communities around the state and around the country in recognizing the plight of our most vulnerable children," CASA said in a press release.

Volunteers joined CASA board members and local staff members of Child and Family Services as well as other professionals in the child welfare system and concerned local residents to plant the pinwheels.

In Hill County, almost 100 children have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect, the release said.

The 211 pinwheels represented the children abused or neglected last year and this year.

"A Court Appointed Special Advocate is a member of the community who is appointed to serve a single child or sibling group, to monitor, to advocate and to facilitate, always with the child's best interest in mind," the release said. "By focusing on one child at a time, the CASA volunteer can provide information about a specific child which is often missing in the courtroom, while also serving as a watchdog to ensure their child doesn't 'slip through the cracks' of an overburdened child welfare system.

"You don't need any previous experience or special skills to become a CASA," it continues. "You just need common sense and a passion for seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our community."

The next CASA 30-hour pre-service training course, which provides a solid foundation from which to begin to serve abused and neglected children in the courts and the community starts, May 15.

CASA also is holding hospitality tables at Holiday Village Mall Saturday and Saturday April 15 from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. each day where people can learn more about the organization's work and about the upcoming pre-service training.

For more information about National Child Abuse Prevention Month or about becoming a CASA, people can contact Mark Douglass at [email protected] or 265-6743, ext. 1135.