Special CASA Awards and Recognition
Michael Kulling 2007 CASA Attorney of the Year
In June 2007 Payne County CASA awarded CASA Attorney of the Year to Michael Kulling. Michael was also awarded a Gold Level Best Interest Alliance award for working for abused & neglected Children & advancing CASA’s mission for five years as well as the Payne County Team award for his willingness to work as a team with CASA on children’s cases. Why did we recommend our ADA for this award? Did you know that some District Attorneys in other counties don’t even attend the juvenile deprived docket? Being assigned the juvenile deprived docket isn’t the most glamorous job an Assistant District Attorney can have. This is where Michael is completely different. When asked if he would provide a quote on what he thought about CASA to be printed in a CASA calendar to promote community awareness about our organization this is what he had to say, “The CASA Program is an invaluable voice for the best interest of children in our court system. On many occasions the CASA volunteer is really the only person who can look at all the options available for the child in a “real world” sense without being confined to the legal strictures of the job. As the ADA handling juvenile cases I always put a great deal of value on what the CASA volunteer has to say. I truly hope you all are able to keep up the excellent work you do for the children in our community.” Such strong support from an ADA is not common practice in all counties. In Payne County cases on the weekly Wednesday docket are staffed each Monday over the noon hour at the CASA office by CASA volunteers and staff, DHS, the attorneys on the juvenile contract, and none other than Michael himself. He makes a point to attend these case staffings each week on top of staffing the cases with DHS on Monday mornings. Doesn’t sound like an ADA who doesn’t have time for juvenile cases does it? Further, if cases go to mediation guess who is there? Michael. He truly cares about these children. This was written by a Payne County CASA volunteer, “Hearing Mr. Kulling read my report in the court room made me realize the true impact CASA had in the life of a child.” Michael Kulling is also appreciative of CASA’s work and this is what he had to say about CASA Hero of the Quarter, Sarah Wheatley, which was published in area media, “Ms. Wheatley has proven to be everything we would hope for in a CASA volunteer. It has been my impression that she is deeply concerned for the welfare of every child when she is appointed and she is always very well prepared and provides valuable information relating to the care and well being of the children. Ms. Wheatley has been of great assistance in protecting abused and neglected children and in putting families back together when that is appropriate. I would like to personally thank her for all her hard work.” Michael is always available to volunteers and CASA staff and attends special meetings, birthday parties for CASA kids, as well as CASA fundraisers and events. Michael also attended two AWOL Protocol Meetings hosted by CASA with local police officials, Sherriff’s office, attorneys, DHS, CASA volunteers and staff to determine what everyone’s responsibility is when custody children run away and to try to overcome problems in this area. Now everyone is on the same page. CASA volunteers would know where a CASA child was but because the child was not on NCIC as a runaway no one could pick up that child and return to custody- because of the ADA’s attendance at this meeting and his role in fixing this problem it will likely never occur again in Payne County! The great thing about Michael too is that in cases where he disagrees with the Department or realizes their recommendations are based solely on their policies he will say so in court if he believes that recommendation is not in the child’s best interest all the while acknowledging still what the Department recommends. Michael will do the same for CASA volunteers- if he feels he cannot advocate for a volunteer’s view he will say why and acknowledge the volunteers recommendations just the same. Michael always reads the CASA reports and refers to them and at times even relies on them during court hearings. Michael makes the CASA volunteers feel heard and appreciated and this amicable relationship encourages volunteer retention in our county. Payne County’s average length of a child’s stay in foster care is 11.8 months as opposed to the state average of 21.8 months. This is because Payne County CASA proudly utilizes a teamwork approach. This would not be possible if the ADA in our county did not attend staffings, communicate openly with the other parties, and make himself available to CASA volunteers and staff as well as advocate for the child’s best interest in court. Children in Payne County are very fortunate to have an ADA so dedicated to making their time in court matter as Michael realizes what he does each day and each week directly impacts the lives of these children.
