Casa Uses Donation to Dial Into Cases

 A group in Champaign County says it's struggling to keep up with a growing number of abused children; but that's about to change. Court Appointed Special Advocates otherwise known as CASA says its workload has at least tripled in the last few years. Now, it's getting help to get to those abuse victims faster.
    For years CASA has shared just two phone lines for hundreds of cases. One of those lines was also used by the fax machine making it hard for calls in or out. The Executive Director, Genevieve Lambert, says they would sometimes have problems finding information on cases because the phones were already tied up.
    The Rotary Club of Champaign County hopes to change that. It gave CASA more than 20-thousand dollars to o upgrade its phone systems and add more lines. Lambert says that's a big benefit to victims and their families, "there were be times when our lines would be busy and we would miss calls or there would be times when an advocate would need a phone line and both lines were occupied."
   The money also paid for new computers for workers. Workers say they could use some more help. We mentioned the growing demand of abuse and neglect cases in Champaign County and workers say  they're in need of more volunteers to help out with that demand.