Every Child Has Rights - We Protect Them
CASA recruits, trains, and coaches citizen-volunteers who advocate for abused children in the community and in the courtroom - because abused and neglected children need more than the foster care system can provide. CASA volunteers provide quality, court-based advocacy that lead to positive outcomes for the children. Using two annual wellbeing assessment on each child, CASA staff tracks early development and education, health, placement and permanency, and transition to adulthood. A few of the outcomes that we can anticipate include:
• 96% of the children are current with medical well visits or regular physicals
• 89% of children with mental health needs are currently receiving the necessary care
• 90% of children (5-17) had no reported school attendance problems
• 87% of children (5-17) had C or the equivalent grades for the majority of their classes/subjects
• 82% of youth (14-18+) were engaged in discussions about planning for future education/employment
Children are referred to CASA from a variety of sources including the juvenile court judges, attorneys, caseworkers, service providers, teachers and family members. CASA advocates are matched to a child's case where their skills and training will benefit the children most. CASA advocates work to get their child’s court case expedited in addition to helping the child they’re working with find a permanent home as quickly as possible.
Change a Child's Story
Sara had never attended school, even though she was nine. Her CASA fought for her to stay in a classroom with her peers for half a day and have intense tutoring the other half and it paid off. Sara was able to catch up to her class before the end of the year.
