What Does a CASA Volunteer Do?
A CASA volunteer advocates for the best interest of a child and provides a judge with carefully researched details about the child. This helps the court make a sound decision about the child’s future. The CASA recommends to a judge what the child needs to be safe and what is in the best interest for a child to be placed in a permanent home. CASA volunteers also make recommendations to the judge in the form of a report, attend the child’s hearings, and follows through on the case until it is permanently resolved.
What Training Does a CASA Volunteer Receive?
CASA volunteers receive 30 hours of classroom instruction from staff and other professionals in the community. After the classroom instruction is complete the volunteer is sworn in by the family court Judge and concludes their training with a mandatory 3-hour courtroom observation. Thereafter, volunteers are required to fulfill 12 hours of in-service training per year.
What Is the CASA Philosophy?
The CASA concept is based on the fact that every child has the right to a safe, permanent home. A juvenile court judge appoints a volunteer to the child’s case. The volunteer then becomes an official part of the judicial proceedings, working alongside attorneys and social workers as an appointed officer of the court. However, unlike attorneys and social workers, the CASA volunteer speaks exclusively for the child’s best interests. By handling only one or two cases at a time the CASA volunteer has time to thoroughly explore the history of each assigned case. CASA is the only program where volunteers are appointed by the court to represent a child’s best interests.
How Does a CASA Volunteer Investigate a Case?
To prepare a recommendation, the CASA volunteer talks with the child, parents, family members, case managers, school officials, health providers, and others who are knowledgeable about the child's history. The CASA volunteer also reviews all records pertaining to the child - school, medical, case manager reports, and other pertinent documents.
How Does a CASA Volunteer Differ from a Social Service Case Worker?
Case workers generally are employed by state governments. They sometimes work on over 20 cases at a time while CASA volunteers are able to provide their full attention to just one family at a time. The CASA volunteer does not replace the case worker; he or she is an independent appointee of the court. The CASA volunteer can thoroughly examine a child's case, has knowledge of community resources, and can make a recommendation to the court independent of state agency restrictions.
How Long Does a CASA Volunteer Remain Involved with a Case?
Our CASA program requires a minimum one-year commitment with the ultimate goal of the volunteer continuing until the case is permanently resolved and permanency has been achieved. One of the primary benefits of the CASA program is that, unlike other court principals who often rotate cases, the CASA volunteer is a consistent figure in the proceedings and provides continuity for a child.
How Much Time Does It Require?
Each case is different. A CASA volunteer usually spends about 15 hours a month doing research and conducting interviews prior to the first court appearance. More complicated cases take longer. Once initiated into the system, volunteer advocates work anywhere from 4-20 hours per month depending on the complexity of the case to which they are assigned.
How Are CASA Programs Funded?
CASA programs depend on their communities to support the service. Foundations, corporations, fundraising events, annual giving and grants are just some examples of the ongoing support received by local CASA programs.
How Effective Have CASA Programs Been?
Research suggests that children who have been assigned CASA volunteers tend to spend less time within the foster care system than those who do not have a CASA volunteer. Judges have also observed that children assigned to a CASA also have better chances of finding permanent homes than children not assigned to a CASA.