About CASA
CASA stands for “Court-Appointed Special Advocates”
We train qualified adults to advocate in court for abused and neglected children. The CASA volunteer has a Court Order appointing them as the advocate for the children in a specific Abuse & Neglect case. The volunteer's reports to the Court provide factual information about the best interests of the child, and any concerns there are about the parents ability to provide a safe home for their child or children.
CASA gives a child a voice in court.
The CASA volunteer has one case at a time, and the average time of a CASA case is 11 months.
Southeast CASA is a member of the National CASA Association.
The mission of the National CASA Association is to support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy so that every abused or neglected child can be safe, establish permanence and have the opportunity to thrive.
The role of local CASA programs is to recruit, train and support volunteers in their work with abused and neglected children.
No other organization in the area provides advocacy for abused and neglected kids!
HISTORY OF NATIONAL CASA
Since its creation in 1977 by a family court judge in Seattle, Court Appointed Special Advocates has become one of the most effective programs of its kind. Today there are almost 1,000 CASA programs around the country. CASA is a unique blend of private support, public need and the kind of people power that comes from 70,000 volunteers all committed to the rights of every child in the foster care and child welfare system.
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST CASA
The Southeast CASA Program opened its office in October 2011 to serve children in Yankton County. The program began CASA services for the children in Clay County in July of 2015, and in Bon Homme County in 2016. Southeast CASA then added services for children in Union County in the fall of 2018, and we added our 5th and final county, Turner County, in 2020.
We are proud that since we began providing and expanding CASA advocacy, 100% of the eligible children in our service area have been provided with a CASA volunteer.
THE MISSION OF SOUTHEAST CASA
The mission of the Southeast CASA Program is to promote and protect the best interests of abused and neglected children involved in court proceedings through the advocacy efforts of trained volunteers.
