Family court Judge David Soukup was dissatisfied with the same case plans and same recommendations for child after child; he believed more individualized attention would produce better outcomes. Judge Soukup solicited ideas for system improvement from court staff. Out of these ideas evolved the idea for community volunteers to act as child advocates.
In 1977, an innovative new program called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children, was created to fill this need. CASA is a national nonprofit organization which trains and supports volunteers to speak out and act as advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children. They are trained to work within the child welfare and family court systems and are appointed by judges to individual cases. With the help of a CASA volunteer, a child is half as likely to languish in the foster care system, and that much more likely to find a safe and permanent home.
In fact, the CASA program has been so effective that it now has more than 70,000 volunteers serving almost 1,000 programs in almost every court system in the United States. It is an outstanding reflection of the kind of change that's possible when the public, private and nonprofit sectors join forces.
