1234567 CASA Fact Sheet

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  What is CASA?  
  CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate.  CASA advocates are trained community volunteers appointed by a judge to serve as a child's voice in court.  They represent the best interests of abused or neglected children during juvenile court and child protection proceedings.  Capital Area CASA Association is a nonprofit organization with both private and public funding sources.  
   
   
   
     
  CASAs are necessary.  
  Each year startling numbers of children enter into complex child protection and juvenile court proceedings through no fault of their own.  They are innocent victims of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.  To keep them safe, the state has removed them from their homes and all they know. These children belong to no one as they silently wait for the court to decide their future.  Many of these children become victims a second time, lost in an overburdened system that cannot pay close attention to each child whose life is in its hands.  Sometimes a child can remain adrift in the foster care system for months, even years.  Currently, more than 300 children are placed in foster care in East Baton Rouge Parish.  
   
   
     
     
       
    The role of a CASA:  
   
  • give special representation to abused children so they will not fall through the cracks of an overworked and underfunded juvenile justice and child protection systems.
  • work with all parties involved in a case to see that the child is placed in a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible.
  • submit a recommendation to the judge advocating what they believe to be in the child's best interest.
  • do not provide legal representation in the courtroom, nor do they replace a social worker.
  • serve on only one or two cases, providing more thoroughly researched information than other professional could possibly provide given their caseloads.
  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Who can be a CASA?  
    Anyone age 21 or older can submit an application; no special background is required.  CASA volunteers come from all walks of life, with a variety of professional, educational and ethnic backgrounds.  Most are employed full-time.  They are carefully screened for objectivity, competence, and commitment.  
     
     
     
       
    What training and commitment are required of CASAs?  
   
  • attend a 45-minute orientation (view schedule)
  • complete an application form
  • attend a personal interview with CASA staff
  • consent to criminal background clearances
  • complete a 35-hour training course
  • commit to serving at least one year
  • attend 12 hours of in-service training after taking a case

Through the training course CASAs learn about courtroom procedure, the social services system, and child abuse issues.  After training, CASAs are sworn in by the juvenile court judge and appointed to a child abuse case, which they follow to its resolution.

  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
 

   

  

 
   
   
   

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Capital Area CASA Association   341 St. Joseph Street  Baton Rouge  LA 70802
 

Phone: 225.379.8598    Fax: 225.379.3362    Email: info@casabr.org