By BETH CHAPMAN / Community Columnist

The Shelby County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) has hired Dr. Jill Shearin Driver to serve as its volunteer coordinator.

Driver will replace Mac Stinson, who served in the position for the past 13 years.

Among her educational accomplishments are a bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D from the University of Alabama.

Driver retired from the University of Alabama in 2010. She was director of the Alabama Regional In-Service Center, College of Education. It is one of 11 regional centers in the state that provide professional development and continuing education for all public school systems in our state. Driver was responsible for administering every aspect of the Center: funding and budgets, programs; personnel and evaluation.

Driver and her husband, John, were already trained as CASA volunteers and had completed their first court case when the job became available.

“We are extremely pleased to have hired Jill Driver. Her credentials speak for themselves and her CASA training and experience makes her perfect for this job,” said CASA Board President Kathy Robinson.

The responsibilities of the CASA Volunteer Coordinator are to develop strong working relationships with the Juvenile Court and Judge Jim Kramer, the Department of Human Resources and other non-profit organizations that work with the children that CASA represents. The main responsibility of Driver’s job is to train new CASA Volunteers, which she will be doing in the fall.

Driver is enthusiastic about the upcoming fall training schedule and hopes to release the schedule in the coming month.

The Court Appointed Special Advocates recruit and train volunteers to go through the court process with abused and neglected children. For more information on the organization or the upcoming volunteer training in the fall, please visit Casaofshelbycounty.org.

Driver and her husband, John, live in Riverchase and have five adult children and 10 grandchildren.

 

Beth Chapman, Alabama’s secretary of state, is a Shelby County resident and writes a weekly column for the Shelby County Reporter. You can reach her at bethchapman@bellsouth.net.