NCJ Number
202598
Date Published
2003
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This document provides the annual report of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association in 2002.
Abstract
The National CASA Association is a national organization of more than 930 local programs and 45 State CASA/GAL organizations across the country. National CASA, located in Seattle, WA, provides local program staff with training and assistance in a variety of areas. These areas include program development, local volunteer recruitment and training, resource development, and grant writing. Grant funds are provided to promote both program quality and growth to meet the growing numbers and needs of abused children. CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to advocate for the best interests of these children and to ensure they do not get lost in the overburdened legal system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each child’s case until it is closed and the child is placed into a safe, permanent home with hope for a positive future. The mission of a CASA volunteer is to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children that are involved in juvenile courts. State and local CASA and volunteer guardian ad litem programs work to promote and support quality volunteer advocacy to help assure each child a safe, permanent, nurturing home. In 2002, the national network of CASA and guardian ad litem volunteers served and positively changed the lives of more than 270,000 abused and neglected children. To help programs manage the loss in revenue, the association made available emergency resource development grants, a new and extensive online fund-raising library, and provided additional personal resource development consulting services. The area most in need of change is the unacceptably low awareness of the national causes among potential volunteers and donors. Media coverage of the first National Light of Hope event in April 2002 on the National Mall in Washington, DC reached millions of people across the country. A new National Quality Assurance System with updated and strengthened Standards for National CASA Member Programs was implemented in 2002.