Montgomery County Juvenile Court

The Effectiveness of Court Appointed Special Advocates

Americans pay an estimated $13.3 billion a year in taxes to care for children in foster care.
CASA volunteers donate hours of time towards helping court systems function more efficiently. In 1998, CASA volunteers provided services hours equivalent to $330 million in taxpayer money.
In addition to potentially saving the public millions of dollars in advocacy work, CASA volunteers help ensure that no child stays in foster care longer than is necessary. On a national scale, if the median length of stay in foster care were shortened by just one month, it would realize a savings of more than $1 billion.

National CASA Statistics

There are an estimated 52,000 CASA/GAL volunteers across the country.
In 1998, there were more than 183,000 children with CASA volunteers, 33% of the children in foster care.
There are 900 CASA/GAL programs nationwide – every state except Vermont, which is starting one in 2000.
Nationally, the federal support for CASA programs is approximately 10% of revenue for local programs. The rest is from the private sector, and county/state funding.

Foster Care and Child Abuse Statistics

In 1997, an estimated 2,980,000 reports of abuse or neglect were filed. Officials substantiated nearly one million (889,665) of these cases.
At least 1,3000 children died as a result of abuse or neglect in 1997. 77% of the children died before reaching 3 years of age.
In 1998, 547,000 children were placed outside their home for their safekeeping.
The median time in foster care is 22 months.
The annual victim cost of child abuse is estimated at &56 billion.

Quality Representation

CASA excelled in a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services evaluation
quantifying representation of child’s best interests. Another government study found that attorneys generally lack the specific training, evaluation and monitoring of performance which CASA programs provide.
The service CASA provides to our country’s juvenile justice system has merited
awards and recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Congress and the White House.

Better Service to Children

CASA/GAL volunteers handle only 1 or 2 cases, so they can take the time to interview everyone involved in the case and prepare a thorough report and recommendation to the court. The CASA’s only job is to speak for the child: to assure his or her best interests don’t get overlooked while in protective custody, and that the child is placed in a safe, nurturing, permanent home as quickly as possible.