Child Advocate

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Child Advocates, also know as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) serve in a volunteer format. We are a nonprofit and our volunteers are extremely important to the continued advocacy of children in Cass County. The classic volunteer supports Cass County Child Advocates by monitoring cases and visiting the children they're assigned. Without volunteers, this would be impossible to carry out. Our program is assigned 90-115 at any given time.

We also accept volunteers for office duties (phone calls, making copies, training prep...) and special events that we host, such as our Christmas Angel Tree Program and Pinwheels for Prevention event.

Requirements once assigned as a Child Advocate include seeing the children you are assigned to at least once every 30 days, enter contact logs into Optima case management system, read reports regarding facts of the case, write court reports every 6 months and to submit monthly reports regarding the case. Along with reporting concerns or changes that you observe.

You may also have regular contact with the child's parents, placement, school, service providers, your CASA staff and the Department of Child Services. After the initial 30 hour pre-service training volunteers are assigned to a case with children ranging in ages from newborn to 18 years old.

As a volunteer, you will be notified of any continuing education sessions, meetings and other events that are available to you as a CASA Volunteer.

If you're not sure you want to be assigned to a child, you can also volunteer in the office as you are comfortable and assist staff with managing cases without assigned volunteers, preparing for court, prepping training materials and various other tasks.

A typical day in a classic volunteer role might include the following:

• Visiting the child you're assigned to at school, foster placement or visitation with their parents to observe the child's behavior and interactions with those around them.
• Calling service providers to check on any progress or concerns they have regarding the child.
• Reading the most recent reports filed by service providers or Department of Child Services.
• Logging into our case management system to enter a contact log or write a monthly report.

This volunteer position may be for you if:

You like helping people. You are patient & cool under pressure.

You communicate clearly. And can advocate for the best interest of a child respectfully.

You like learning new things and willing to look at difficult situations in more than one perspective.

You can think on your feet. When things change, you know how to roll with the punches.

You have some time to spare.

You’re flexible.

You can commit to a service of at least a 1-year span. (Cases typically last 12-18 months)

Most meetings or visitations happen throughout the week, occasionally on the weekend. The times can vary from morning to evening depending on the availability of parties to the case.

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To join our force, contact us at catdirector@co.cass.in.us to receive further details.

You can also fill out a volunteer application at https://in-cass.evintosolutions/VolunteerApplication. Our next new volunteer training class begins July/August 2018 and is a 30 hour course.