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"(L to R) Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Representative Chuck Hoskin, Jr., Angela Henderson, Tri-County CASA director, Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Representative Cara Cowan Watts and Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Joe Grayson, Jr., hold a check representing a special $6,842 contribution from the tribe to Tri-County CASA." The Cherokee Nation recently contributed $6,842 to the Tri-County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Inc., a Claremore based non-profit that serves as a voice for children in court throughout Rogers, Mayes and Craig Counties. “We are proud to provide support to CASA,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith. “CASA volunteers are instrumental in serving as an independent voice for children struggling in the court system.” Last year alone in their service area, Tri-County CASA served nearly 200 children. Angela Henderson, Tri-County CASA director, says that the contribution will definitely help. She noted that thirty percent of the children served by the agency are Native American children, many of whom are Cherokee Nation citizens. “This is very important and will allow us to serve our children in a better way,” said Henderson. “This contribution will be used to support our training program so we can recruit and retain more CASA volunteers. It will cover that plus the support we give to them [children] by going to court with them every single time so they don’t have to go alone.” Tri-County CASA is one of 26 CASA organizations located throughout Oklahoma. According to the CASA Web site,CASA is a unique concept for the juvenile court system that initially began in Seattle, Washington in 1977, as an experiment to involve community volunteers in sensitive and confidential matters of families. The volunteers, speaking as guardians for the children in court, brought significant information about the children to whom they were appointed that was free from agency biases, policies and procedures. The volunteers proved to be an effective way to help prevent inappropriate and unduly long foster care placements, and to provide the court with a perspective based solely on the child's best interest. As a result, courts in other states began adopting the idea and the CASA concept has become one of the fastest growing child advocacy movements in the country. CASA requires a significant number of hours of ongoing training for its volunteers to give them the knowledge they need to perform in their role. “We appreciate this so much and will be good stewards of this funding,” said Henderson

Related Cherokee Nation contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org