When children are abused or severely neglected, they must rely on adults to help them obtain justice and services. Who deserves an advocate more than an abused or neglected child? That is the intent of the social service and Family Court systems, but all too often these systems are fraught with escalating caseloads and reduced resources.
Children presently average more than three years in the limbo of foster care, with their futures unresolved and uncertain. Juvenile Court judges, with as little as ten minutes to determine a child's fate, are facing increasingly complex cases, limited support services, and disjointed, insufficient or outdated information on which to make sound decisions.
The heart of our program is the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), a specially trained and supervised community volunteer, appointed by a Juvenile Court judge. CASAs make a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children by investigating and monitoring cases involving children in foster care.
CASA's take only one or two cases at a time, allowing ample time to gather thorough information. They build relationships with their "CASA" kids, spending time with them, gathering facts about their life so they can report back to the judge who can then make a much better decision as to what is best for the child.
