All children have a right to a home with loving people to care for them.  But each year in the United States, thousands of children are abused, neglected, or abandoned by their families.  Over 270,000 of them are removed from their homes and placed in foster care or institutions.  Eventually, they end up in court.  Their only "crime" is that they have been victims.

It is up to a judge to decide their future.  Should they remain in foster care?  Be reunited with parents?  Or be adopted?  In these cases, many children also become victims a second time - lost in an overburdened child welfare system that cannot pay close attention to each child whose life is in its hands.

That's where CASA comes in.  CASA volunteers are Court Appointed Special Advocates for children; they are trained community volunteers appointed by a judge to speak up for abused and neglected children in court.

CASA's mission is to expedite the process through which these abused and neglected children are found permanent, safe homes.

Since social agency caseworkers can have 60 to 90 assigned cases at a time, it's often impossible for them to give each case their full attention.  The CASA volunteer's research can include reviewing documents, interviewing the child's parents, siblings, neighbors, school officials and doctors.  

It is the volunteer's duty to focus exclusively on the child's best interests and express the child's needs and point of view.  The advocate's in-depth knowledge of the case provides the judge with the information necessary to make tough decisions.

The volunteer helps ensure the child makes it to a safe, stable, permanent home- instead of falling through the cracks of the bureaucracy.