Imagine, You Could Be the Difference
A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a trained volunteer who advocates on behalf of the best interest of a child in the foster care system. Children in foster care have occasional court hearings where important decisions are made regarding their future—including educational and medical needs, visits with family, and, most importantly, where the children will ultimately live. Every adult in the courtroom has someone representing him or her. Who speaks up for the children? This is where a CASA volunteer comes in.
After completing training and an extensive background check, each CASA volunteer is assigned to a child. The CASA volunteer establishes a relationship with the child, investigates and watches over the child, and challenges the system to provide what is in the best interest of the child. The CASA volunteer makes recommendations about services, living arrangements, and who should raise the child. The CASA volunteer makes these recommendations to a lot of people and agencies, but most specifically, to the Hamilton County Juvenile Court.
Our hope is to reunite children with parents who have learned to live differently, or when possible, place them with relatives. The third option is to free these children for adoption.
A CASA volunteer focuses on getting children the help they need to heal. They work to move children out of the system and into a safe, permanent, and nurturing home as quickly as possible.
