Mission Statement
Take a Stand;
Make a Difference;
Change a Child's Life...Forver.
A passionate and powerful voice, CASA El Dorado's trained and court appointed volunteers advocate on behalf of abused children and at-risk youth.
Together with our community's involvement and generous support, we will positively impact the lives of our children.
Description
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is the only volunteer organization that empowers and trains everyday citizens as officers of the court with the mission of ensuring that abused, neglected, and abandoned children are provided with every available opportunity to begin a new journey to live a healthy productive life. We serve children in the Child Welfare System in El Dorado County, specifically children who remain on the waiting list to be matched with a CASA advocate volunteer.
In a report released by National CASA in 2009; there were over 900,000 documented cased of child abuse, 4 children die every day as a result of child abuse, and the average age of these children is 4. El Dorado County is not immune to child abuse or neglect, there has been an influx of children displaced and removed from their homes because of the stresses of families and the recent changes of family economics. In an overburdened social welfare system, displaced children often slip through the cracks among hundreds of current cases. CASA volunteer advocates provide a resolution. CASA advocates prepare a case plan solely focusing on the priority issue of the child and as a result help reduce the repeating cycle of abuse and neglect dramatically experienced by our children. CASA El Dorado advocates, currently serve more than 80% of the children in the Child Welfare System in El Dorado County-more than any other CASA program in Northern California, including San Francisco and Sacramento, agencies who have a higher number of children needing to be served. Over the past three years, we have been able to serve more children that enter the social welfare system and we want to continue the trend of providing increased services to children needing to be matched with a CASA advocate.
Friends of CASA
Friends of CASA is an extended network of concerned citizens that want to help raise awareness of the foster care dilemma in El Dorado County and of the services CASA offers to abused and neglected children through the Family Court System.
Becoming a Friend of CASAallows you to support the organization's work if you aren't able to volunteer as an Advocate for a child by offering us your unique talents and expertise on projects we need help with. We are looking for people who can work with us in ways that are of interest to them and that will aid the growth of the El Dorado County CASA program.
CASA needs friends to host information events about child abuse and neglect, help plan and staff fund-raising events, assist with Public Relations efforts, help with general office duties like mailings and database maintenance, provide introductions to their employers (or spouse's employer) that may be open to a CASA presentation or willing to make a donation, and friends that will network within the community.
