CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. CASA of Madison and Clark Counties trains and supports community volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children within the Family Court system.
CASA of Madison and Clark Counties is appointed to cases by the Madison and Clark County Family Court Judge when he/she deems it an appropriate CASA case. CASA volunteers are then matched to a case where their skills and training will benefit the children most. CASA volunteers advocate for a safe and permanent home for these children and work to help the children achieve permanency. CASA volunteers work with all parties involved including parents, foster parents, attorneys, social workers, teachers and medical personnel to ensure they have a full picture to give to the court. CASA volunteers share their information in the form of court report, which has recommendations regarding the child/children, submitted to the Family Court Judge.
Neglected and abused children have many different people come in and out of their lives. Our CASA volunteers, however, will stay involved and present for the child for the duration of the court case. The average length of a court case is a year and a half. We do not want to be another person that comes into a child’s life and then leaves - we want to be a constant in these children's lives.
CASA volunteers are sworn to confidentiality to ensure all information remains confidential.
You can read more about CASA here. Read about the impact CASA volunteers have here.
