What We Do

The CASA volunteer has the unique position of being the only person in court whose responsibility it is to represent the child/ren’s best interests. The CASA volunteer works to find needed services (medical, psychological, educational, etc.) and also makes a recommendation to the judge about a safe and permanent home for the child. The CASA volunteer and/or supervisor attends all hearings and staffings concerning the child victim and works alongside CPS, judges, attorneys, foster families, mental health professionals and others who are involved in the child victim’s situation. Without the help of CASA, the children are left to an overburdened state system and attorneys ad litem who often do not even have the time to visit with their children.

One of CASA’s goals is to provide more children in state care with effective advocacy to achieve a permanent home, free of abuse. We strive to see the children move toward placement in a more timely manner. We also work to increase awareness of resource deficiency to circumvent delays in services, which impact the status of a child’s case and the time taken to reach permanency. This also results in a savings of taxpayer money which would otherwise be spent on attorneys for the children as well as their foster care. Most importantly, the cycle of abuse, replacing destructive adult role models with protective adults that model positive values and behaviors, benefits not only the child but also the community where that child will become an adult member.