Black River Technical College (BRTC) Social Science Instructor Rachel Koons was recently named to the Board of Directors of Gateway CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), third judicial district.
“I am honored to be joining Gateway CASA’s Board of Directors,” said Koons. “I am dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children in our community and ensuring they have a safe and nurturing environment.”
Koons was hired on as an intern with the Department of Human Services in Randolph County during her last semester of college.
“I served as a case worker for several months,” Koons said. “Once I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, Families, Inc. of Randolph county hired me as a full-time case worker. I worked with children that were severely abused in multiple ways. Children that were neglected and abandoned along with so many other heinous acts. There wasn’t a single night during that time that I did not go home and cry, thinking about how terrible some people can be to their own children.”
Koons said the experience completely changed her, and she is still haunted by some of the cases she worked at the time.
Since then, she has spearheaded the Child Abuse Awareness Event at BRTC, which is how she became involved with CASA.
“When myself and the BRTC Community Connections club started the first annual child abuse awareness walk in the spring of 2016, the local CASA organization volunteered to help us in any way possible. I had heard of CASA before, but was unaware of all of the things they did for the kids in the surrounding counties. Ever since then, I’ve stayed in contact with several CASA advocates, kept up with their mission, and all they were involved in,” said Koons.
Koons has taught Sociology, Intro to Social Work, and Cultural Anthropology for BRTC on both the Pocahontas and Paragould campuses for 15 years. Rachel currently resides in Pocahontas with her husband and three boys.
Gateway CASA has been serving the 3rd Judicial District for the past 23 years, and is an independent non-profit. Gateway CASA works with community partners such as DHS, Guardians ad Litem, parent counsel, several school districts, professional counseling agencies, local law enforcement, child homes and facilities across North Arkansas.
CASA of Third Judicial District is a rural area that serves child victims of crime in Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp Counties from ages 0-21 who are in the foster care system. These children are victims of severe abuse and neglect including, but not limited to sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, family violence, child pornography, abandonment, trafficking and other horrific acts. They engage everyone, from the board, to staff and volunteers of the organization, in race equity work to ensure that individuals understand we will continue to train board members, employees, and volunteers in cultural competency in hopes of addressing this issue. Training includes awareness and tolerance of diversity including race, ethnicity, age, gender, social economic status as well as sexual orientation and identity.
For more information on how you can be a part of gateway CASA of Arkansas, visit https://www.gatewaycasa.net/about_us