A Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteer is a trained community member appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of a child who has experienced abuse or neglect and is involved in the foster care system.
Core Roles of a CASA Volunteer
1. Advocate for the Child in Court: CASA volunteers provide independent recommendations to the judge about what will best support the child’s safety, stability, and long-term well-being.
2. Get to Know the Child’s Situation: Meeting regularly with the child Talking with foster parents, biological parents, teachers, caseworkers, therapists, and others involved in the child’s life. Reviewing school, medical, and court records.
3. Ensure the Child’s Needs Are Met: CASA volunteers monitor whether the child is receiving necessary services such as: Education support, Medical and mental health care. Safe and stable housing
4. Be a Consistent Adult Presence Children in foster care often experience many caseworker changes. A CASA volunteer can be one stable adult who stays with the child throughout the case, sometimes for several years.
5. Promote Permanency
Follow these five steps to become a CASA volunteer. Email Staff@casaacc.org or call (609) 601-7800 for more information.
Step 1: Attend a monthly Information Session - Register Now! or click here for a schedule of upcoming Information Sessions.
Step 2: Apply, via an online application, to be accepted into training. Application will be emailed to you after the Information Session.
Step 3: Complete all of your pre-training paperwork, including an interview and background check.
Step 4: Sign-up for the next training session.
Step 5: After a full training session of 35 hours is completed, and all of your paperwork is completed and cleared, you are sworn in as an official court advocate and will be assigned your first case.
