ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the importance of a court-appointed special advocate/guardian ad litem volunteer in the life of a child. Through an excerpt from a former youth in foster care, readers learn from her powerful first-hand account about how she benefited from having a constant, consistent adult, a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer, in her life. This account demonstrates the importance of the CASA/GAL Movement.
The CASA/GAL Movement's origin dates back to 1976 when a Seattle juvenile court judge, who was concerned about making decisions about the lives of children who had experienced abuse or neglect, felt he had insufficient information to make decisions that would impact children for the rest of their lives. His founding of the CASA program was intended to ensure that judges would have as much information as possible to make the most well-informed decisions for children appearing in their courts.
Today, judges continue to support the value of CASA/GAL advocacy. A recent study by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, surveyed judges’ perspective of the value of CASA/GAL advocacy. The study showed that 93% of judges report positive to very positive overall experience with the CASA/GAL program, and 78% of them say they would appoint more volunteers to cases if there were more of them available in their jurisdiction.
Now, close to 100,000 carefully screened and trained community volunteers speak for the best interests of children in court, serving, most recently, more than 275,000 children annually.
The best-interest advocacy model comprises five components for volunteers to follow which include learn, engage, recommend, collaborate, and report in their work on behalf of the child.
The organization's vision is to provide a CASA/GAL volunteer for every child that needs one.
