When people drive or walk by the Kingfisher County Courthouse in April, they’ll notice more than two dozen wooden cutouts of children adorning the lawn.

It’s a number too high for what it represents.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Each year, The CARE Campus in Enid’s Fourth Judicial District CASA Program uses the cutouts to not only bring awareness to child abuse and neglect, but to help raise money in its fight against it.

Each wooden cutout on the courthouse lawn represents a substantiated case of child abuse in Kingfisher County.

There were 29 such cases in 2024, according to Dustin Albright, the executive Campus.

The wooden caricatures serve “as a poignant reminder of the need for advocacy and support,” said Albright.

The CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) Program is a form of that support.

The non-profit accepts and trains volunteers to serve as court-appointed advocates for abused and neglected children in juvenile court.

The fourth judicial district serves Kingfisher, Blaine, Garfield, Grant, Major and Woodward counties.

Once appointed, a CASA volunteer works with a variety of people from the child to the family to possibly a foster family and all involved professionals.

Volunteers visit children in the system each month, meeting with parents, foster parents, caseworkers, teachers, counselors, doctors, psychologists and other key individuals to make informed decisions in the child’s best interest.

The end goal is to find a safe permanent home for the child or children.

Albright said that can either be adoption, guardianship or reunification with the family.

There are currently six CASA volunteers in the county, but more are needed.

And so is funding.

The CASA Program is funded by grants, donations and fundraising effort.

The wooden child display is one of its efforts to raise funds.

People can “foster” (sponsor) a wooden child for $35.

Business sponsorships are also available for $200 each.

All of the funds raised in Kingfisher County will be used in Kingfisher County.

“The money that is raised is earmarked for your county so that we can travel back and forth to serve your community,” Albright said.

This is the 25th year of the CASA Program and the goal is to recruit 25 new volunteers and raise $25,000 in April for the Fourth Judicial District.

Those from the CARE Campus will be in Kingfisher next Tuesday, April 1, setting up the display on the courthouse lawn from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information, call 580-242-1153 or visit www.fourthjdcasa.org or www.thecarecampus.com.

“Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children who need it most,” Albright said.