Sharon Lawrence, Esq., CEO of California CASA, announced the appointment of Teresa Romney as Chief Program Director. Romney will begin her position on February 15, 2020. Lawrence stated, “We are delighted that Teresa is joining our team at such a pivotal moment in our history. She has a deep passion for helping abused, neglected children in foster care, and looks forward to serving the larger needs of our state. Teresa brings nine years of in-the-trenches experience as leader of one of our state network’s 44 local programs. During that time, she transformed CASA of Ventura County into a successful and important community resource helping the county’s children in foster care. Prior to that, Teresa spent 18 years working in the corporate world, including 14 years at Amgen Inc. as a Lead Business Analyst and Senior Manager in Sales and Marketing Operations. She will bring important CASA experience, practical skills, and personal attributes to California CASA as we strive to support our network of 44 local CASA programs statewide.”
Since 2011, Romney has been an integral part of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Ventura County, where she has served as Executive Director, and prior to that as Board Chair and Acting Co-Executive Director. In that time, she partnered in the creation of the new 501(c)(3) organization under the auspices of the California Department of Justice, California Judicial Council, California CASA, and the National CASA/GAL Association; developed strategy for organizational growth to provide more CASA volunteers for the foster youth of Ventura County; guided the organization’s growth from its starting budget of $10,000 to its current annual budget of $770,000; and led the development of new programs in the areas of CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children), Mental Health Advocacy, and CASAs for Juvenile Justice Youth Programs in Ventura County. Moreover, she was instrumental in the receipt of significant funding from the State of California’s Office of Emergency Services, including Victims of Crime Act/VOCA funding for victim advocacy, innovation, and program recruitment. She also secured funding in collaboration with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office for CSEC program development. During her tenure, CASA of Ventura County increased CASA recruitment, screening, training, and supervision to a current level of 225 CASA volunteers serving approximately 350 foster youth per year.
Teresa Romney expressed her feelings about joining the staff of California CASA: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with California CASA and help strengthen the CASA network programs across the state as they strive to increase the number of volunteers serving youth in foster care. I look forward to gaining true insight into how each organization functions, what their local needs are, and how we can craft solutions with the ultimate goal of serving all foster youth in the state that need an Advocate.”
Prior to becoming CEO of CASA of Ventura County, Teresa Romney was principal in TMR Consulting LLC, Camarillo. In that role, she helped the Los Angeles Community College District as a member of the consulting team working with the Chief Information Officer. She was responsible for process management of a $130 million IT infrastructure project across 9 colleges and the District Office.
Teresa Romney received her BA (magna cum laude) in Business Administration from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California. In addition to her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, she has also been affiliated with the Casa Pacifica Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Committee, the Association for Strategic Planning, and the Ventura County Family Justice Center Development Team.
About California CASA
California CASA was founded in 1987 to serve the individual local CASA programs throughout the state. The mission is to ensure that children in the foster care system have both a voice and the services they need for a stable future. There are currently over 80,000 children in California foster care—the largest foster population of any state in the nation. California CASA strengthens the state network of 44 local CASA programs and advocates for child welfare policy and practices that will improve the lives of all foster children. CASA volunteers are a crucial intervention to help ensure safety, speed up permanent placement, help children and youth thrive in school, and support positive health outcomes. A CASA volunteer is often the only consistent adult in a child or youth’s life who is not paid to support and advocate for them. The CEO of California CASA since 2017 is Sharon M. Lawrence, Esq., who served for 20 years as CEO of Voices for Children (San Diego and Riverside Counties), one of the nation’s largest and most successful CASA programs. Chair of the Board of Directors is Kevin Gardner; he leads a statewide Board of 18 individuals representing all regions of California. California CASA is a private, nonprofit organization that is pursuing an ambitious ten-year vision (2020 to 2030) to ensure that every child in California foster care will have a CASA by their side. It is a member of the National CASA/GAL Association, and one of 49 state CASA associations in the United States. Learn more at www.californiacasa.org.
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