CASA Volunteers are Changing Lives
The Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children Program
Jan 27, 2008
The CASA program, short for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children was created in 1977, the brain child of Judge David Soukup. The judge, discouraged with making major decisions on behalf of maltreated children with little information to go on, conceived the idea of appointing volunteers to be a voice for these children. CASA began with 50 community volunteers in the Seattle, Washington area. It has now grown to over 50,000 CASA volunteers nation-wide, with an estimated 1,000,000 children aided by their advocacy, according to the National CASA website.
CASA Volunteers Make a Difference
In January 2007, the findings of an audit of CASA conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, was released to the public. The report found that children with a CASA volunteer were, “13.3% less likely to spend time in long-term foster care versus 27% of all children in foster care.”
In addition, the audit found that foster children and their parents who had a CASA volunteer were more likely to receive needed services as ordered by the court. The report concluded that, “CASA is effective in identifying the needs of children and parents.”
Finally, the audit disclosed that cases where a CASA volunteer was involved were more likely to be “permanently closed” than in those cases in which a CASA volunteer was not involved. In other words, these children were either reunited with their biological parents or adopted and never reentered the foster care system.
Why CASA is Effective
The conclusions drawn by the audit are exciting. So, why is CASA so effective? There are several factors that likely contribute to the success of the program. In an email interview with CASA volunteer Barbara Russell on January 17, 2008, Ms. Russell stated that she believes that CASA is so successful because of the amount of time they are able to devote to the cases they are appointed to, with their case loads kept to a minimum. Many CASA volunteers only have three cases at any given time.
When a volunteer takes on a new child, they are asked to see it through to the end so that the child has continuity, something often lacking in their lives when entering the foster care system.
Barbara spends most of her volunteer time with the child she is appointed to, clocking significantly more time with them, on average, than a guardian ad litem (GAL) or social workers who are assigned to the case. The stark reality here is that social workers are often overworked with numerous cases assigned to their case loads, with their time and energy needing to be spread evenly over everyone concerned- birth parents, children, extended family and other parties involved.
CASA Volunteers are a Voice for the Children
This is where CASA volunteers really make a difference. They are able to really dig in and make sure the child’s needs are known and best served. When sharing about her role as a CASA volunteer, Barbara sums it up by saying, “basically we are the voice of the child and the eyes and ears of the court.”
As court appointed members of the court, CASA volunteers are able to obtain medical records, speak with family members, spend time with the child, visit the biological parents and really get to know the case. They then report their findings to the judge so that he has a clear and accurate picture to base his decisions on.
CASA Needs Volunteers
As wonderful as the CASA program is, it wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and dedication of its volunteers. These volunteers come from all walks of life. There are secretaries, doctors, homemakers, lawyers, teachers, everyday citizens who want to make a difference in the life of a child.
Barbara says that she became involved with CASA because she feels that “helping children in the court system is a way to give something back.” When someone tells her that they couldn’t be a CASA volunteer because “it would be too sad,” Barbara replies, “It would be so much sadder if no one helped them.”
Persons interested in becoming a CASA volunteer are encouraged to go to the National CASA website to find an office near them.
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