National CASA
The mission of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association, together with its state and local members, is to support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children so that they can be safe, establish permanency and have the opportunity to thrive.
More than
85,000
CASA volunteers help change
children’s lives every day
More than
250,000
children have found safe,
permanent homes
Impacting children’s lives for over 40 years
In 1977, a Seattle juvenile court judge concerned about making drastic decisions with insufficient information conceived the idea of citizen volunteers speaking up for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the courtroom. From that first program has grown a network of more CASA and guardian ad litem programs that are recruiting, training and supporting volunteers in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
How we work together
The role of local CASA programs is to recruit, train and support volunteers in their work with abused children. The role of National CASA is to offer to the local programs the critical leadership and support necessary for providing quality advocacy. Some of National CASA’s activities include the following:
- Develop training and curriculum: National CASA creates new, research-based training opportunities, such as our new e-learning series on educational advocacy, and continuously improves its core volunteer training curriculum.
- Provide technical assistance: National CASA offers extensive technical assistance to help local CASA programs serve more children more effectively.
- Contribute to volunteer recruitment and public awareness: National CASA coordinates campaigns at the national level to help recruit CASA volunteers and raise awareness about child abuse. In recent years, the CASA cause has been featured in various media, reaching more than 155 million individuals. Much of this awareness Is the result of National CASA being selected as a CBS Cares network charity.
- Provide resource development and grants: National CASA provides pass-through funding to local and state CASA and guardian ad litem programs. Grant funding comes primarily from the Department of Justice but also from private corporations and foundations.
Learn more about National CASA and its impact on the lives of abused and neglected children. Visit the National CASA website.
