Advocate for Child/Children in Foster Care

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URGENT NEED! There are 124 children in foster care on our waiting list!

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) utilizes community volunteers to serve as advocates for abused and neglected children who are in the foster care system.

We offer training throughout the year for advocates, which all volunteers must complete before being assigned a case.

The time requirement: Initial training is 30 hours; Ongoing in-service training is one hour a month. Child advocates typically spend 5-6 hours per month helping the children.

• Once appointed by a juvenile court judge, our CASA volunteers begin a process of information gathering with the goal of guiding abused children out of the foster care system, identifying the child's needs, and ensuring rehabilitative services. They act as a communications link between the complicated pieces of the child welfare system. Volunteers gather all the pertinent information about their child's case and make recommendations to the judge based on that information.

• Volunteers provide a variety of services customized to meet each child's needs. They assist in locating vital therapeutic and rehabilitative services for 100 percent of the children CASA serves to help them deal with the trauma of abuse. Services range from psychological treatment to educational assistance, to parent/family education. In addition, our volunteers make sure children receive special needs items such as eyeglasses, clothing, beds, tutoring, school supplies, backpacks, and other basic needs.