Humans of Findlay

Give the child a voice.

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Leah Cole

Children in abusive situations often end up in court and in order for these children to not be voiceless as in the past there is a national group called CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) that steps in and stand up for the child, making sure their rights and desires are heard in a court in an arena where adults can stifle a child’s voice.
Leah Cole is the local Executive Director and with her staff of four and 46 volunteers currently are representing over 250 children as they go though court situations such as abuse, abandonment, divorce and custody cases. Volunteers go through a 40 hour training program and then are sworn in as a Guardian ad-litem. They then will visit the child’s home, interview the child, and try to determine booth what the child wants and what is best for the child and give the recommendation to the court. This process can take up to a year. Leah is always recruiting new volunteers as the case loads continue to get bigger. She has been with CASA/GAL for 5 years.
Prior to that she was a court investigator for the Probate court which she continues on in as needed basis.
She is a graduate of Miami University.
She is married with two children and has one grandson. Her motto is that of CASA, “Give the Child a voice.”
Leah’s role model are her parents who gave her a wonderful childhood, have been married for 50 years and were great examples for her. Her dad went from washing light bulbs as a young man to being in upper management at Cooper tire.
In her free time she loves family time and is an avid marksman.