WHAT IS CASA?
Each year in this country, approximately 780,000 children are placed in some form of foster care and thrust into the court system. They have committed no crime, but are simply child victims who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. It is then up to a judge to decide their futures. The judge must consider the following: Did the conditions at home warrant removal? Is the home now safe enough to allow the child's return or should that child be permanently placed in another home?
CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them.
Today, more than 50,000 people are speaking up for these children as volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Guardians ad Litem (GAL). CASA volunteers are lay people who are assigned by a judge to represent the best interests of children whose cases are before the dependency court. Ohio CASA volunteers serve as the eyes and ears of the judge, gathering relevant information about the child and the family. They interview anyone who might have information about the case -parents, foster parents, relatives, teachers, doctors and the child himself. The focus of this investigation is to identify the child(ren)'s needs, not to gather evidence for criminal prosecution. The volunteers then make recommendations to the judge regarding what, in their judgment is in the child’s best interest.
Last year, more than 70,900 CASA volunteers served more than 237,000 abused and neglected children through 1,055 program offices. CASA volunteers have helped more than two million abused children since the first program was established in 1977.
The benefit of citizen volunteers extends far beyond the Courtroom to the community at large. CASA volunteers are speaking out for improved services for children. As they do so, they are also raising the public's awareness of the problems of abused children.
CONDITIONS THAT LED TO CASA
Over the past 50 years, attitudes toward abused and neglected children have changed dramatically in the United States. In the first half of the century, neglected and abandoned children were most commonly placed in institutional settings such as orphanages and asylums. Abuse was considered a family matter, and children were rarely removed from their homes for physical harm inflicted by their parents. It wasn't until the early 1960s that child advocates succeeded in raising the awareness of the public and the courts, and child abuse was recognized as a serious problem and a crime. During this period there was also growing recognition of the importance of a child's attachment to caregivers. Judges began placing children in families instead of in institutions, giving birth to the modern system of foster care.
By the 1970s, however, foster care had become permanent for many children. It was not uncommon for children to be placed in a series of foster homes with no efforts made to reunite them with their parents or to find other permanent families. For many children, becoming a part of the foster care system meant the loss of a family for the remainder of their childhood.
THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS
In the 1970s, national attention focused on child abuse and neglect, leading Congress to pass two laws that were instrumental in restructuring child welfare services in this country. These laws also laid the groundwork for the development of CASA programs.
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, or CAPTA, (Public Law 93-247), was one of the first legislative measures to address the importance of representation for children in juvenile or family court proceedings. In order to receive certain federal funds, the act requires the states to provide a guardian ad litem for children who are the subject of judicial proceedings as a result of allegations of abuse or neglect. The guardian ad litem (meaning “for the suit”) or GAL, is defined as a:
Person appointed by the Court to promote and protect the interests of a child involved in a judicial proceeding, through assuring representation of those interests in the courts and throughout the social service and ancillary service systems.
Though some states had implemented guardian ad litem legislation prior to the passage of the federal law, most passed legislation requiring the appointment of a guardian ad litem for the child as a direct result of CAPTA. However, despite the legal mandate to do so, a 1990 national study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that only 50% of the states were actually appointing guardians ad litem for every abused and neglected child in the system. The law simply was not being followed and the federal government did not have a system for monitoring compliance.
Although CAPTA did much to improve a child's position in court, there were still many children being placed in foster care unnecessarily and many others who were remaining in foster care placements longer than necessary. To remedy the heavy and extended reliance on foster care, child welfare professionals and advocates launched a movement known as permanency planning. Permanency planning requires that agencies provide services to preserve a child's family, expeditious reunification of the child with his/her parents if removal is necessary and alternative permanent placement for the child when reunification is not possible.
Permanency planning efforts emerged out of the recognition that a safe and permanent home is essential for the healthy development of a child. Research indicates that the lack of such an environment is a contributing factor to juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy and social and/or emotional problems that often linger into adulthood.
In 1980, Congress passed P.L. 96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act. This legislation was designed to encourage permanency planning in state child welfare systems by requiring that states, in order to be eligible for federal child welfare funds, show evidence that "reasonable efforts" are made to keep a family together before a child is removed from the home.
This Act established a number of requirements of social services agencies designed to prevent a child from remaining in limbo. They included:
CASA OFFERS A SOLUTION
The growing awareness of children's rights and subsequent changes in the law produced an environment of change in child welfare in which creative solutions to problems could be developed.
One such innovative program emerged in 1977 in Seattle, Washington, when King County Superior Court Judge David W. Soukup saw a recurring problem in his courtroom. He felt strongly that he was not getting all the facts needed to make well-informed decisions affecting the future of the children whose cases came before him. Such decisions included where the child would live, for how long, and under what conditions; what services and treatment should be ordered; and/or what steps should be taken to reunite the child with the birth parents or to place the child in a new family unit.
While attorney guardians ad litem were being appointed to abuse and neglect cases in Seattle, they generally lacked the time and the specialized training to conduct the in-depth investigation required in these cases. Social workers, responsible for many cases, had too little time to devote to each child. In court, there were attorneys to represent the interests of the parents and the state. Yet the child, whose future hinged on the outcome, was without a voice.
Judge Soukup believed that someone other than an attorney might be trained to speak effectively for children. He wondered if it might be feasible to recruit and train qualified individuals to step into the courtroom to advocate for children. In 1977, Judge Soukup's idea became reality when volunteers began representing the best interests of children as their appointed guardians ad litem. They later came to be known as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
In a short time, the judge's daring experiment proved to be an enormous success. Lay volunteers entered the court proceedings with enthusiasm, dedication, and professionalism. With proper training, they proved to be effective advocates for abused and neglected children. They conducted thorough investigations of each child’s individual situation, made recommendations which reflected the best interests of the child, and monitored the case plan to ensure that the court's order was carried out in a timely manner.
CASA volunteers provided a fresh perspective to the juvenile court proceedings, one that questioned how families and children were being treated and what services were available to help them. Their presence on cases helped to ensure that children who were abused or neglected did not receive further abuse at the hands of an overburdened child welfare system.
In October of 1996, The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was amended to include CASA volunteers as one of the court's options for guardian ad litem appointment:
"...in every case involving an abused and neglected child which results in a judicial proceeding, a guardian ad litem, .who may be an attorney or a court appointed special advocate (or both), shall be appointed to represent the child..."
This legislative amendment serves as an acknowledgment by political leaders of CASA's strong reputation as a quality method of child advocacy.
GROWTH OF THE CASA IDEA
The CASA concept soon received the attention of the Children in Placement Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). In October 1977, that body voted to endorse the volunteer CASA program as a model for safeguarding a child's rights to a safe and permanent family.
In 1978, the National Center of State Courts selected the Seattle program as the "best National example of citizen participation in the juvenile justice system." This recognition, along with a grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (one of CASA’s earliest and strongest supporters), made it possible for courts in other communities to develop programs based on the CASA concept.
Other early supporters who were instrumental in the growth of CASA were the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and the International Association of Junior Leagues.
As communities adopted the CASA concept, new programs were established under a variety of names --Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem (GAL), ProKids, FOCAS, Child Advocates, Inc., and Voices for Children, Inc., to name a few.
WHO SUPPORTS CASA?
The Ohio CASA concept has been widely accepted by judges, child advocates and policy makers since the Seattle program began in 1977. It has affected hundreds of courts and thousands of children and has been supported by a number of professional and government organizations, including the following:
Through its Permanency Planning Project, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has promoted CASA and helped to educate judges about the potential value of using volunteers in their courts. The support of NCJFCJ has helped to build CASA's credibility in legal, social service, and child welfare circles.
In 1988, CSR, Inc., under contract to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published the results of a study entitled National, Evaluation of Guardians Ad Litem in Child Abuse or Neglect Judicial Proceedings. After analyzing five types of GAL models the study found that:
"CASA volunteers are excellent investigators and mediators, remain involved in the case and fight for what they think is best for the child." The study concluded, "We give the CASA models our highest recommendation."
In August 1989, the American Bar Association, the country's largest professional organization of attorneys, voted to officially endorse the use of CASA volunteers to work with attorneys to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in juvenile court. Their resolution reads:
"Be it resolved that the American Bar Association endorses the concept of utilizing carefully selected, well-trained lay volunteers, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA’s), in addition to providing attorney representation in dependency proceedings to assist the court in determining what is in the best interests of abused and neglected children. Be it further resolved that the American Bar Association encourages its members to support the development of CASA programs in their communities."
Also in 1989, the Kappa Alpha Theta women's fraternity selected CASA as its national philanthropy. As a result, chapters and alumni groups across the country have assisted local CASA programs and state organizations in many ways.
THE NATIONAL CASA ASSOCATION
By 1982, it was clear that a national association was needed to provide networking opportunities and a unified image for CASA's emerging national presence. The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association ("National CASA") was formed that year.
Funding for National CASA is provided through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the U.S. Department of Justice, corporations, individuals, and membership dues. This financial support allows the National CASA Association to promote the concept and growth of volunteer child advocates through ongoing services including training, technical assistance, resource development, continuing education and public awareness initiatives.
National CASA hosts an annual conference where volunteers, staff and others from throughout the child welfare and juvenile justice systems meet to exchange ideas and hear leaders in the field speak on various issues. National CASA also produces a quarterly newsletter, The Connection, to keep program staff and volunteers updated on the latest news from the child advocacy network.
National CASA produces Feedback, a bulletin of current news and important program information and conducts an annual survey of local programs that provides valuable information about the organization their services, and their needs.
In addition, the National CASA offers many services tailored to the new and/or growing program. It provides technical assistance both on-site and via telephone and internet communications, thereby assisting staff in programs across the country to share information and solve problems. It also provides public service announcements, brochures for the public and professionals, and a number of instructive guides on substantive topics such as program development, volunteer management, fund-raising and public relations.
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