Spotlight: Flying High as a Volunteer

Lana Petrovic was sworn in as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in March 2022 after hearing about the CASA program in college. Despite being new to the role, Lana was willing to dive right in! When presented case files for review to be assigned her first case, without hesitation Lana agreed to be assigned a complex case involving twin sisters who had experienced ongoing sexual abuse from their father. While shy and timid during their first visits, over the last 18 months Lana has brought the girls out of their shells and developed a strong bond. She wants to be certain that despite the circumstances they have faced, the sisters have an opportunity to enjoy just being children. From trick-or-treating at Halloween (a first for the twins!) to Christmas Pageants to summer swim days, Lana has now become such an integral part of the girl’s lives and someone they know they can trust and rely on. This trusted and stable relationship will remain critical for the girls in the coming months as they will testify in the criminal case against their father for the sexual abuse they experienced, an unimaginably stressful situation which will require tremendous support and encouragement.

Fortunately for the twins they have had the stability of being with the same amazing foster parents, who are now the girl’s pre-adoptive parents, and therapist for quite some time. Since being assigned to the case, Lana has established an excellent relationship with both the foster parents and therapist to help ensure the team was working collectively to support the girls. While Lana appreciates that the team has been great to work with and the foster family has been flexible and communicative, there have been numerous case managers in the time she has been assigned to the case. Because of her longevity on the case and expertise on the twins, Lana can help make these transitions smoother for both the girls as well as the newly assigned case managers. No matter the challenges or circumstances she faces in her CASA role, Lana remains open-minded and recognizes that no one is perfect which means interactions may not always go as expected.

While managing her CASA role, Lana has also worked full time at Boeing for nine years and volunteered with various organizations. Lana shares, “CASA has been the most important work I have ever done. What I’m doing is helping to set the girls up for the rest of their lives. Not a lot of people are here advocating for them. Being a CASA is life changing for the kids we work with”.