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Every day in this country, 1900 children become victims of abuse or neglect, and four of them will die. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children is a network of 951 community-based programs that recruit, train, and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. Volunteer advocates – empowered directly by the courts – offer judges the crucial information they need to ensure that each child’s rights and needs are being attended to while in foster care.
Volunteers stay with children until they are placed in loving permanent homes. For many abused children, a CASA volunteer is the only constant adult present in their lives.
CASA Volunteers listen first. Then they act. Volunteers get to know the child by talking with everyone in that child’s life: parents and relatives, foster parents, teachers, medical professionals, attorneys, social workers, and others. They use the information they gather to inform judges and others of what the child needs and what will be the best permanent home for them.
You do not have to be a lawyer or social worker to be a volunteer. We welcome people from all walks of life. We are simply looking for people who care about children. As a volunteer, you will be thoroughly trained and well supported by professional staff to help you through each case.
You must pass a background check, participate in a 30-hour pre-service training course and agree to stay with a case until it is closed (a year and a half on average).
In 1977, the concept of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program was introduced in Seattle, Washington. Seattle Juvenile Court Judge David W. Soukup realized that children who entered the legal system due to abuse or neglect in their own homes were often inadvertently re-victimized by courts and public social service agencies who were over-burdened, understaffed and woefully lacking in resources. Lawyers typically represented the interests of the parents and the state. Seldom did someone speak exclusively for the child, the party who arguably had the most at stake in proceeding. Once Judge Soukup recognized the problem, he looked to community volunteers for a solution. He personally recruited and trained volunteers to serve as volunteers for children who entered the child welfare system.
The idea caught the attention and approval of the Children in Placement Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and in 1978 the Committee adopted the model that came to be known as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Indiana law requires the appointment of either a guardian ad litem or a trained court appointed special advocate (CASA) in all abuse and neglect cases. Although of the number of volunteers who provide an invaluable service to Indiana courts is remarkable, the need for volunteers is ongoing.
Gibson County CASA held its first volunteer training in March 1998 with 10 volunteers. They began serving the children of Gibson County in April 1998. Gibson County CASA is always accepting new volunteer applications!
