Celebrating 20 Years of CASA Service
She is a great connector of people and hope. She has helped advocate for children in foster care, family members of Alzheimer patients get answers, and scientists discover new treatments for cancer patients.
Born to a Navy officer who later became a pilot for Ozark Airlines, Stephany Kniep moved from Indiana, home to her mother’s family, to California and then to Texas before settling at age 12 in St. Louis.
Fifty-five years ago, she married native St. Louisan Richard Kniep, who found success helping to run his family’s paper distribution company. They had two children—both now thriving entrepreneurs and parents to four children.
In those years of child-rearing, Stephany remained active in her community. Stephany is marking her 34th year of service as a docent for the Saint Louis Art Museum. She volunteered at John Burroughs School, while her children were students there. She also belongs to the Friends of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. And in 2017 and 2018, the Knieps’ contributions to Siteman Cancer Center provided resources for renewal of grant funding investigations into new approaches to leukemia treatment.
Stephany has also served on the board of directors for the Friends of the Saint Louis Art Museum, the League of Women Voters and Planned Parenthood, and co-chaired major galas to support non-profit institutions. She has even answered questions about Alzheimer’s disease while staffing an Alzheimer’s Association St. Louis hotline.
Yet one of her most challenging and rewarding roles has been her work with children in foster care. “Years ago, I volunteered at a residential facility for children in foster care in Evansville, Ind., where my husband and I lived at the time,” Stephany recalled. “I assisted a teacher in that state-run facility.”
Later when she returned to St. Louis, Stephany volunteered for 10 years at Our Little Haven, whose mission is to create a safe, secure, and healing environment for those impacted by abuse, neglect, and mental or behavioral health needs, where she respond to the needs of youth who were victims of abuse, neglect, drug-exposure, and who had HIV/AIDS.
“I took the children on field trips,” she said. “It was at Our Little Haven that I met a dedicated volunteer who was also a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). “He encouraged me to consider volunteering for CASA.”
Twenty years ago, Stephany signed on with the organization that became CASA of St. Louis. In those two decades, she has provided advocacy on approximately 15 cases, serving multiple children, often the one constant in their often-tumultuous lives. She has had to navigate through a system that involves fully researching the child’s family background and discussing each case with the child’s team.
“With each case, the team— which includes the Deputy Juvenile Officer, Children’s Division case manager, the attorney who serves as Guardian ad Litem, and more—has changed very often over the years, but as the CASA, I was the one constant—the person the child could depend upon to be there,” Stephany added.
While it has not always been easy, Stephany said most of her cases have ended with the child being adopted or placed with a family member. Her most memorable and painful case was a young girl Stephany grew to know well over several years.
“I met her when she was 13 y/o and in a residential facility and began to introduce her to the joys of music and theater and work with her throughout high school,” Stephany recalled. “After graduating from high school, she aged out of the foster care system at age 19. Unfortunately, at the age of 20, her life ended tragically, and her loss was very painful for all of us who had worked to help her.”
Stephany is currently working on multiple cases which involve six siblings in foster care. Two of the sisters are still waiting to achieve permanency. “Those cases were challenging because of family matters, but we managed to place three of the children in permanent homes,” she said.
Summing up her 20 years of CASA service, Stephany has said that the experience has been deeply rewarding: “Even with the death of the young woman I worked with for so long, I felt that I had made a difference in her life.”