The Heart of CASA: Dave and Kay Bartlett

Friday November 16, 1956: that was the day Dave and Kay Bartlett first met, when they were both students at San Jose State. Their first date was during finals week, and Dave in particularly was having a difficult week. So he called Kay, grabbed a six-pack of beer, and they went to the drive-in theatre and saw Cinderella. The rest, as they say, is history — although Kay is quick to point out, “It took me three years to land him!” Now in their 56th year of marriage, for more than a decade the Bartletts have become woven into the fabric that is CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Santa Cruz County, volunteering their time to help children and youth in foster care.

Through a friend, Kay connected with the Friends of CASA in 2003, an auxiliary of volunteers that supports CASA through volunteering in the office, assisting with special events, and hosting the annual For the Love of Children luncheon to support CASA’s Children’s Fund. An accomplished quilter, Kay also created the “CASA quilt,” which graces the wall of one of the rooms at the CASA house in Watsonville. The quilt was also on display at this year’s CASA luncheon on February 12, where Kay was honored for her service as a long-time Friend of CASA.

Dave went through the CASA training in February of 2000, and became an Advocate for a six-year-old boy. Abandoned by his mother, the young boy was deeply traumatized. Dave stayed with him until his case closed, and then became an Advocate for the boy’s younger sister. To this day, Dave sees the now-grown woman once a year to keep up to date on her and her siblings.

As often happens, Dave was as affected by the experience as the young children for whom he advocated; through the years Dave became a CASA Advocate for a total of nine children in the foster care system. Dave was chosen from thousands of Advocates nationally and awarded the G.F. Bettineski Child Advocate of the Year Award by the National CASA Association.

Dave remembers details about each of the nine children whose lives he shared. “I was an Advocate for a young teen-ager who was so traumatized, and so angry, that she wouldn’t talk to me for two months. I kept seeing her every week, though, just being there for her. One day we were driving under an overpass and she said, ‘Duck!’ I responded, ‘Quack!’ That broke the ice!”

Dave says, “As an Advocate, I’ve had the chance to really influence the outcomes in children’s lives. It’s given me purpose in my life.”

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The next training to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate begins May 12, 2015. Volunteers must attend one information session and complete a pre-training interview before beginning the 35-hour training. Sign up at www.tinyurl.com/CASAorientation or contact Cita Rasul, CASA Outreach Coordinator at (831) 761-2956, ext 102, or cita@casaofsantacruz.org for more information.