The mission of the Center on Children and Families is to promote the highest quality of advocacy, teaching and scholarship in the areas of child & familiy law and policy.

We believe that children, as the least powerful of our citizens, are most in need of high quality advocacy. They must depend on adults – parents, teachers, doctors and lawyers – to vindicate their rights to protection from abuse and to overcome barriers to education and health care. Children cannot lobby for legislation or retain high-powered lawyers and costly experts. While great strides have been made in educating family lawyers, we believe that too few professionals have the breadth of training necessary to advocate effectively for children and their families.

Our Center is committed to filling the need for high quality advocacy by creating programs and resources that bring an interdisciplinary, evidence-based and child-centered approach to issues of children’s law and policy. Through its Certificate in Family Law, Child Welfare Clinic, Annual Conference, Publications, and Student Fellowships, the Center on Children and Families is training a new generation of advocates for a new era.

Website: University of Florida Levin School of Law Center on Children and Families

Every year millions of children in the United States are abused, neglected or abandoned. Eventually, many of these children end up in court where a judge must decide their future. Seattle Superior Court Judge David Soukup, experienced this when he began hearing abuse and neglect cases in his court room, “In criminal and civil cases, even though there were always many different points of view, you walked out of the courthouse at the end of the day and you said, ‘I’ve done my best; I can live with this decision.’ But when you’re involved with a child and you’re trying to decide what to do to facilitate that child’s growth into a mature and happy adult, you don’t feel like you have sufficient information to allow you to make the right decision. You can’t walk away and leave them at the courthouse at 4 o’clock. You wonder, ‘Do I really know everything I should? Have I really been told all of the different things? Is this really right?’”

To ensure he was getting all the facts and the long-term welfare of each child was being represented, the Seattle judge came up with an idea that would change America’s judicial procedure and the lives of over a million children. He recruited his staff; the idea caught on and was developed. Now community volunteers called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteer to step into courtrooms on behalf of abused and neglected children.  This unique concept was implemented as a pilot program in January 1977. During that first year, the program provided 110 trained CASA volunteers for 498 children in 376 dependency cases. The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association in Seattle , Washington provides leadership and technical support to new and existing programs. Over the past twenty five years, tens of thousands of CASA/GAL volunteers have served hundreds of thousands of abused and neglected children. Today the National CASA Association acknowledges 950 CASA programs across the country, including Washington D.C. and Virgin Islands.

CASA began in Laramie County in August 2002 and has been serving children since July of 2003. and is a member in good standing with the National CASA Association. Since CASA began in Laramie County, almost one-fourth of the abused and neglected children who have been through the court process are being served by a CASA volunteer.

website: CASA of Laramie County Wyoming

no info. given

website: Wisconsin CASA Association

The West Virginia CASA Association is in the business of keeping kids happy and safe for a lifetime.

Every day in West Virginia, CASA volunteers are making a difference in the lives of children. For many of them, a CASA volunteer is the first person in their life they can count on. CASA works for kids because caring people are willing to offer unconditional support. There is something everyone can do to keep children happy and safe for a lifetime. Volunteer, make a contribution or donate your expertise. Explore this site to learn more about how you can make a difference.
 

website: The West Virginia CASA Association

The mission of Washington State CASA is to support member CASA/GAL programs in providing trained volunteer advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system.

The Washington State Association of Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem Programs (CASA/GAL), founded in 1988, provides technical support and training to CASA/VGAL programs in Washington State, their staff and volunteers. The local programs are court-administered, stand-alone non-profits, established under umbrella agencies, or tribal court affiliated. The Association is registered as a 501(c) (3).

Services:
Washington State CASA provides the following services to CASA programs in the State of Washington:

• Volunteer recruitment and retention information
• Program data collection, analysis and dissemination
• Technical support for data collection at the program level
• Documentation of best practices
• Management and supervision consultation and training
• Annual regional meetings (6)
• Annual Washington State CASA Conference
• Program manager training and consultation
• Training materials and manuals
• Advocacy with the legislature and other public and private agencies for improvements to the child welfare system
• Advocacy with the legislature for State funding to CASA programs
• Monitoring and response to proposed legislation which might restrict CASA volunteers’ ability to represent the best interests of the child
• Media search for child-welfare and advocacy articles as resource to programs
• Website and 1-800 volunteer inquiry referrals and compilation
• Research reports on compliance with statutes and other volunteer program management issues
• Funding for special projects
• Networking and information exchange regarding common program issues
• Statewide promotion including coordination of the annual April CASA Cares campaign
• Networking with public and private agencies with similar interests

In addition, technical support is provided to those communities wishing to start a local CASA program.

Staff:
There are six, full-time staff members with training and expertise in the service and support areas of the organization. Continuing education for staff consists of training, participation in conferences and seminars and interaction with public and private child welfare organizations.

Board of Directors:
The current Board is made up of up to 25 members who represent a cross-section of professional and volunteer experience. 25% of the members are staff of local CASA programs; two members are Juvenile Court Judicial Officers and two are Juvenile Court Administrators.

Financial Support:
Washington State CASA receives funding from the State of Washington, the Stuart Foundation, corporate sponsors for the annual conference and special promotion campaigns, the National CASA Association, and individual contributions.

Washington State CASA is a member of the National CASA Association.

website: Washington State CASA

CASA is the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program. CASA is a child advocacy organization that seeks to provide trained volunteers to speak for abused and neglected children who are the subjects of juvenile court proceedings. CASA volunteers advocate for safe, permanent homes for children. CASA began in 1977 in Seattle, Washington by Judge David Soukup who saw the need for more information on cases involving children in his court. The Social Services and Legal systems were overburdened and CASA was created to assist in obtaining information and providing follow up monitoring of court orders.

The National CASA Association was founded in 1982 and provides technical assistance and national leadership to local programs across the country. The CASA concept is endorsed by American Bar Association, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators. Today there are over 900 CASA programs in the United States that serve over 225,000 children with more than 50,000 CASA volunteers.

Virginia CASA Statistics & History

• 6,487 victims were in complaints with founded dispositions
• 30,289 victims were in complaints that received a Family Assessment through the Family Assessment Track
• 29 children died as a result of abuse
• 4,397 children were served by a CASA volunteer in 2006-07
• 1,278 CASA volunteers provided advocacy in 2006-07

Source: VA Department of Criminal Justice Services, Juvenile Services Section, CASA Program, April 2008.

Virginia’s first CASA program began in 1986 in Newport News. In 1990 the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation providing for statewide implementation of the CASA program. The legislation assigned the responsibility for oversight of local programs as well as for development of statewide regulations to DCJS. The Regulations provide programs with standards to help ensure consistency in program development and service delivery; addressing several basic areas including screening, training and policy and procedure development for local programs. The regulations were revised in 1998.

Virginia CASA Programs

CASA programs are initiated, developed and operated at the local level with regulatory and oversight monitoring provided by DCJS. Currently, there are 27 operational CASA programs in Virginia. View our map of CASA programs in the state (.pdf, 1 page).

Current CASA forms are available here.

Virginia CASA Web Sites

Some of the CASA Programs in Virginia have websites you may be interested in visiting:

• 29th Judicial District CASA
• Alexandria / Arlington CASA Program
• CASA for Children of Augusta County, Staunton & Waynesboro
• CASA of Central Virginia
• CASA of the New River Valley/NRV Cares
• Chesterfield CASA
• Colonial CASA, Inc.
• Fairfax CASA
• FOCUS (Martinsville)
• Greater Prince William CASA, Inc.
• Henrico County CASA, Inc.
• Newport News CASA
• Piedmont CASA, Inc.
• Portsmouth CASA Program
• Rappahannock Area CASA
• Richmond CASA
• Roanoke Valley CASA
• Virginia Beach CASA, Inc.

website: Virginia Juvenile Services CASA

Each year, over 500,000 children in the United States are thrust into the juvenile court system through no fault of their own. The Utah Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program is looking for volunteers, 21 and older, to work with abused and neglected children.

A CASA Volunteer serves as the eyes and ears of the Office of the Guardian ad Litem and the court by gathering relevant information about the child and the family, and most importantly, getting to know the child-the one about whom all these decisions will be made.

website: Utah State Courts CASA Program

Texas CASA advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system through the development, growth and support of local CASA programs.

Our Charge

• Provide technical assistance and training to local CASA programs
• Help create new local CASA programs
• Work with private and public sector organizations to secure funding for local programs
• Work to raise public awareness of child abuse and the need for CASA

The History of CASA

Texas CASA is part of a national volunteer movement that began over 25 years ago, when a judge in Seattle decided he needed to know more about the children whose lives were in his hands. The solution he started was using community volunteers as a “voice in court” for abused and neglected children. These Court Appointed Special Advocates™ (CASA) provided him with the detailed information he needed to safeguard the children’s best interests and ensure that they were placed in safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible. The program was so successful that it was copied around the nation.

Today, the CASA movement has evolved into one of the largest volunteer organizations in the country. There are more than 900 CASA programs in operation - at least one in every state - and more than 57,000 trained volunteer advocates nationwide. In fiscal year 2007 in Texas, 4,928 CASA volunteers advocated for the best interests of 20,509 children in 202 counties.

The first CASA program in Texas began in Dallas in 1979. Texas CASA, which was formed in 1989, serves the 68 local CASA programs currently operating statewide by providing: funding; training; technical assistance; coordination for program expansion and development; and tools and strategies for raising public awareness of child abuse and the need for volunteer advocates.

website: Texas CASA

Our Mission
The mission of the Tennessee CASA Association is the start-up, support and continuation of CASA programs across the state of Tennessee. Local agencies recruit and train volunteers to safeguard the best interests of abused and neglected children brought to the attention of the juvenile courts. The state organization supports these agencies through training, a grants program, coordination of program expansion and development, monitoring legislation affecting children and agencies, and providing strategies for raising public awareness of child abuse and the need for volunteers.

Our Goal
The most important goal of the Tennessee CASA Association is to provide a CASA volunteer for every child in Tennessee who needs one by the year 2020.

History of the Tennessee CASA Association
The first local CASA agency was started in Nashville in 1984. During the following three years, Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville started programs. The Tennessee CASA Association began in early 1986, when the directors of these local CASA agencies began to meet informally to share ideas and discuss concerns. Later that year, the Tennessee Legislature appropriated the first state money for CASA programs, which helped to strengthen the CASA network across the state.

In 1988 the Tennessee Bar Foundation awarded grants to several CASA agencies in Tennessee through its IOLTA fund. The time was right to officially form a state organization, and the Tennessee Court Appointed Special Advocate Association was chartered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit membership corporation.

Today 20 CASA agencies serve 33 counties across Tennessee, from Johnson City in the Northeast corner, all the way down to Memphis on the Mississippi River. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, more than 950 CASA volunteers advocated for 3955 of Tennessee’s abused and neglected children, a 13% increase over the previous year, and provided more than 90,000 hours of volunteer service.

The Tennessee CASA Association is a member in good standing of the National CASA Association.

 website: Tennessee CASA

South Dakota Court Appointed Special Advocates Association (SDCASAA) seeks to ensure safe, permanent nurturing homes for abused and neglected children involved in State and Tribal Court proceedings in South Dakota through the development, growth and support of local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs.

PURPOSE

The specific purposes and objectives of SDCASAA shall include the following:

• Promote advocacy for abused and neglected children with the goal that every abused and neglected child in State and Tribal Court has a CASA appointed to their case.

• Support the development, growth, quality and continuation of Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs in the State of South Dakota, which recruit and train volunteers to serve as CASA advocates for abused and neglected children in court proceedings.

• Facilitate fundraising for the Corporation or individual member programs by increasing funding with equitable distribution for all local and tribal programs.

• Facilitate education of the public, the legislature and the courts in South Dakota regarding the status and needs of abused and neglected children and to be a leading voice in the state that advocates for safe, permanent nurturing homes for all children.

• Enter into a committed partnership with all local CASA programs and provide training to the staff of CASA organizations, CASA advocates, guardian ad litem, and others involved in the social network designed to protect abused and neglected children and to break the cycle of abuse.

 website: South Dakota CASA