NCJ Number
196339
Date Published
2000
Length
69 pages
Annotation
This National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association/Guardian Ad Litem Association handbook supplements the training CASA/GAL volunteers receive in order to make informed evaluations in deciding child welfare issues.
Abstract
This handbook, designed to help Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers, is the product of the National CASA Association. Planned as a manual to supplement the training that CASA/GAL volunteers receive, this handbook begins by describing CASA/GAL volunteers as the first line of defense in preserving children’s rights. Arguing that child advocacy needs to be about the rights of children and family preservation, the author of this handbook suggests that CASA/GAL volunteers need to be culturally sensitive, learning about other cultures in order to help the culturally diverse children and their families with whom they will come in contact. The bulk of this handbook is a Decision Inventory designed to help CASA/GAL volunteers organize and evaluate the materials needed for investigating cases. The Decision Inventory lists a series of open-ended questions to guide CASA/GAL volunteers in collecting pertinent information on various issues. Within the Decision Inventory guide are questions to help CASA/GAL volunteers plan for shelter care/detention hearings, the adjudicatory/dispositional hearing, subsequent review hearings, and termination of parental rights hearings. A discussion of the importance and usefulness of professional consultation and CASA/GAL volunteer collaboration efforts is followed by an extensive bibliography and pullout Decision Inventory Questionnaire cards for quick referencing. Bibliography, notes