All children have the right to a home with loving parents to care for them. However, each year in the United States, over 800,000 children find themselves in court through no fault of their own. Some children are victims of abuse and violence. Some children have been neglected or abandoned. All of these children are frightened and confused. What happens to these children? First, a majority of these children are taken from their homes and then placed with strangers in foster care. These children then become part of a legal system where a judge decides their future. Should they remain in foster care? Should they be reunited with their parents, the very people who have hurt them? Should they be taken from their family permanently and given the chance to be adopted by a new family? And, how will the judge know what is best for this child? This is the role of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).
The National CASA Association began in 1977 when Judge David Soukup from Seattle realized he was only able to spend approximately 15 minutes on each child protection case before him. This, he decided was not adequate time to investigate and decide on the fate of a child. He asked himself who would be able to give him a straight factual picture of the circumstances in this child’s life? He gathered a group of community volunteers to look into each case and give him a fact based report on the child and their family. These volunteers looked at one case at a time and would then make recommendations based on their findings. As the story goes, CASA was born.
There are now CASA programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. There are over 58,000 CASA volunteers nationwide, from over 900 programs serving over 100,000 children a year.
In North Idaho we are proud to have a program that serves Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, and Shoshone Counties. Our program serves over 750 children that have been abused or neglected annually. The First Judicial District CASA Program supports CASA volunteers who have three main objectives:
- To serve as fact finders for the judge by thoroughly researching the circumstances surrounding the family of their assigned children. A CASA’s research includes reviewing records, interviewing the child, their parents, family members, physicians and school officials.
- To speak for the child in the courtroom, focusing exclusively on the child’s best interest. A CASA provides the added information to help a judge answer the profound questions related the child’s future.
- To continue to monitor the child’s circumstances during the life of the case, helping to ensure that the child makes it to a safe, permanent home as soon as possible. CASA also assures that the child receives the services they require to heal from the trauma of their past. CASA’s refuse to be silent.
