Lift up a child's life, a child's voice
What is CASA?
A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a trained volunteer who is appointed by a judge to advocate for a child, or children, in foster care. A CASA is an independent voice for the child’s best interests throughout the time the child is in care (usually about 2 years). CASA duties fall into the following four areas:
Investigation: The CASA conducts an independent investigation of the child’s and family’s situation and circumstances;
Facilitation: The CASA communicates with all parties and encourages cooperation and collaboration so that the child’s case moves as quickly as possible to a good conclusion.
Advocacy: The CASA speaks up for the child and advocates for services, decisions and plans that are in the child’s best interests. The CASA advocates in team meetings, with schools, families caregivers, on the record in court and through reports to the court.
Monitoring: The CASA is directed to monitor the court orders for compliance and to bring to the court’s attention and changes that should be made to the orders. This means the CASA is in regular contact with all parties (the child, parents, foster parents or relatives, social worker, attorneys, and so on) so that fact-based recommendations can be made to the court on the child’s behalf.
The goal for every child in a Dependency Proceeding is to find a permanent, safe home as quickly as possible; that is often found in a return to the parents, but sometimes it means adoption by family or others.
Become a CASA Volunteer
Volunteer Requirements
Volunteer candidates selected as advocates shall be recruited and screened by the Executive Director and provided appropriate training prior to working with clients.
Volunteers will be screened using the following criteria:
- Volunteers must be 21 years of age or older.
- Volunteers cannot currently be on parole or probation.
- Volunteers may not have any pending felony charges or any felony convictions.
- CASA will not accept volunteers with convictions for sex offenses or violent offenses.
- Volunteers may not have convictions for drug offenses.
- All volunteers will submit a completed written application including references.
- All volunteers will submit to a personal interview.
- All volunteers will authorize a local and state criminal background check, as well as any out-of-state localities where the candidate has resided in the past 7 years.
- All volunteers will authorize a check of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) central registry--Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) and National Sex Offender Registry.
- All volunteers will submit their Social Security number for verification and their Driver’s License copy for a motor vehicle record inquiry.
- All volunteers will sign a confidentiality form.
- All volunteers will sign a conflict of interest statement.
